Ex-IT manager challenges Bay dismissal decision

FORMER Nelson Mandela Bay IT manager Mbulelo Matokazi, who was dismissed by the municipality last month, is challenging the decision and taking the city to the bargaining council.

City Manager Johann Mettler said Matokazi was found guilty of serious misconduct and the presiding officer recommended a dismissal.

“He [Matokazi] is currently challenging his dismissal at the bargaining council,” Mettler said.

The municipality’s attorney, Wayne Gray, revealed that Matokazi was dismissed on four charges – contravening the municipality’s information security management policy, misrepresentation, disregarding instruction and making payments to an unauthorised company as well as gross dishonesty.

In response to questions, Gray wrote that Matokazi accessed pornographic websites on the municipality’s laptop which he had access to by virtue of his position as the director for information and communication technology in the corporate services directorate. The attorney further stated that Matokazi presented a dishonest explanation for the pornographic material found on his laptop.

The IT manager’s third charge was that he disregarded an instruction from the executive director of corporate services to stop all payments to Baraka Enterprise Consulting and that he continued making those payments while knowing that they were unauthorised.

Questions were put to Matokazi yesterday about all the allegations but he declined to comment. —