Sithole slammed for report hold-ups
INCREASINGLY “evasive” eThekwini city manager S’bu Sithole has again been chastised by irked councillors for not submitting a critical report.
Councillors in the municipal public accounts committee were yesterday incensed when Sithole could not submit a longawaited report to the meeting, owing to his being off sick.
The report relates to adverse findings of an investigation into suspected cover quoting in a housing contract.
Cover quoting is the manipulation of the bidding process where multiple quotes are submitted by one individual or company, but presented as if being from unrelated companies.
Committee chairman Sipho Kaunda announced to the meeting that Sithole had submitted a sick leave note and would not be in the meeting.
It is not the first time Sithole has been harshly criticised for not submitting reports to committees.
In June, the committee first complained about Sithole not submitting reports, frustrating committee members and impacting on their ability to meet obligations.
Last month, the DA’s provincial and eThekwini caucus leader, Zwakele Mncwango, complained that Sithole was holding on to several reports, in some cases for more than a year. Sithole promised to submit the reports but apparently failed to do so.
IFP councillor Prem Iyer was the first to raise concern yesterday, accusing Sithole of “disrespecting” the committee.
“The municipal manager had sufficient time to submit a written report to this committee. It is total disrespect for a written report not to be submitted today. This is a burning issue in this committee,” he said.
Sithole’s elusiveness was “intentional”, he maintained.
“This committee is being frustrated by the city manager. It has become a big problem. There are various issues the city manager hasn’t acted on, requests by this committee.”
He asked that the committee “seriously consider taking action against the city manager” for holding back the committee from doing its work.
“I propose that we write to him and copy the mayor and the Speaker raising our concerns. We should give him five days to respond,” he said. Councillors in the committee agreed but the ANC pleaded for leniency and sensitivity, especially because Sithole had yesterday submitted a sick leave note.
ANC councillor Sbongile Nhlapo said the internal audit unit would assist in assessing Sithole’s performance, as senior managers often scored themselves highly, while they did not perform adequately.
The assessment “can assist us in arriving at the proper conclusion”, she said.
She asked that the concerns be raised when Sithole was not on leave, so the committee did not come across as “being insensitive”.
But councillors were undeterred, with the NFP’s Thabani Mthethwa calling for Sithole’s delays in submitting reports to be reported to the full council.
“I don’t think it is fair that every time we need a report from him, we must fight. I think such action should be reported to council, whether we get this report next week or not. It’s not just about this report,” he said.
Iyer said the committee was not being insensitive and was “simply asking, ‘show us some respect’”.
DA councillor Andre Mitchell said Sithole had continued to show the committee the “middle finger”, despite it bending over backwards to accommodate him.
“That is not good enough.”