MM queries
Allegations imply candidate in toilet tender scandal
ENOCH Mgijima Local Municipality's (EMLM) recruitment and selection panel for the appointment of a municipal manager (MM) is said to have finalised the process, with former Amathole District Municipality (ADM) head of administration, Chris Magwangqana, one of the candidates to head the local authority's administration.
Magwangqana confirmed to The Rep in a telephonic conversation on Wednesday that he was one of the candidates interviewed for the position, but that he was still waiting for the final decision.
Magwangqana was implicated in a toilet tender scandal worth R631-million, which aimed to build 66 000 toilets in villages headed by ADM during his tenure. According to Dispatch Live (“ANC faces behind toilet tender scandal”, February 28 2015), he confirmed the tender had been awarded to Siyenza Group without following regular supply chain management processes.
DA councillor Chris de Wet said the party would not support someone who had a background of corruption and that the panel was flawed by even considering such a person.
In a leaked document in possession of The Rep, it is indicated that the ADM council noted a report on the findings and recommendations of a forensic investigation about the Sanitation Backlog Eradication Project scandal conducted by an East London-based law firm, Sizwe Ntsaluba Gobodo.
The document also indicates that one of the recommendations made in that report, were that criminal and disciplinary actions be considered against Magwangqana.
Magwangqana was asked by the reporter about his alleged involvement and the investigation into the sanitation tender scandal and whether or not he disclosed this information to the panel during interviews.
He said, “I am not being investigated as a person. The law firm is investigating the project as a whole and therefore I did not see the need to disclose anything because there is nothing to disclose. I was only asked by the national treasury department to explain what resulted in the scandal and I did.”
EFF chief whip councillor Luthando Amos said, “If the council recommends Magwangqana the party will reject him, and if the council approves his appointment we will take it to court. We cannot have a thief and a criminal preside over EMLM.”
DA councillor Malibongwe Xhelisilo wrote to EMLM mayor Lindiwe Gunuza-Nkwentsha, speaker Mzoxolo Peter and acting MM Mzoxolo Dingani inquiring about the potential MM’s fixed-term contract of employment as advertised.
The letter, which was submitted on Friday and is in the possession of The Rep, states that council advertised for a contract of five years, which would mean council contravened section 57 (6) (a) which indicates that the employment contract for the MM must be for a fixed term of up to a maximum of five years, not exceeding a period ending one year after election of the next council of the municipality.
Xhelisilo said, “I want the recruitment process to be considered null and void as the advert was inconsistent with the local government municipal systems act. I request that all processes undertaken in relation to the recruitment of the MM be withdrawn. The advert is misleading and not in sync with the legislation.”
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