EThekwini disciplines errant workers

THE eThekwini Municipality is clamping down on officials who have been accused of wrongdoing and has disciplined many of these officials.

Yesterday eThekwini Municipality mayor Mxolisi Kaunda revealed that the municipality has resolved many of the disciplinary cases that have accumulated over the years.

These cases had been flagged by the City Integrity and Investigations Unit (CIIU).

He said this was among the positive news shared with the MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Sipho Hlomuka, when he visited the municipality last week to assess its performance in terms of its finances and service delivery.

Addressing the executive committee yesterday, Kaunda said when he and his team took over in 2019 there was a backlog of cases related to mismanagement, fraud and corruption.

He said a turnaround strategy was put in place to fast-track the investigations and disciplinary hearings.

“As of February this year, there has been considerable progress in reducing the backlog of outstanding cases.

“The backlog of cases as of October 31, 2019 was 335 cases, consisting of both formal and informal hearings. As of

February 28, 2021, 128 of 233 formal hearings have been resolved and a total of 91 out of 102 informal hearings have been resolved,” he said.

The sanctions on the finalised cases were not revealed.

Kaunda said this was notable progress considering that Covid-19 had also impacted processing of the cases.

“We commend the senior management of the municipality for speeding up this process as it will send a clear message to the public that we are committed to running a clean and responsive administration,” said Kaunda.

The news was welcomed by opposition parties, albeit with scepticism. They cited the lack of details on the cases that had been dealt with and transparency regarding the process.

IFP councillor Mdu Nkosi said he was sceptical about the report, saying there could be more cases that Kaunda had not revealed, as new cases were being brought to the CIIU daily.

DA councillor Thabani Mthethwa said they welcomed the action and hoped the statistics were an accurate reflection of the situation.

“There is a lack of transparency in this issue. What we have called for is for the cases to be detailed and to state that such an individual has been disciplined for this. That gives confidence action has been taken. Right now, the lack of transparency creates doubt.”