Skeletons won’t simply go away

THE alleged poor decision-making by former City of Tshwane senior official Nomasonto Ndlovu has come back to haunt her. Ndlovu, a former head of communications, marketing and events at the capital city’s municipality, left a few weeks ago after the expiry of her contract. She headed to Polokwane, where she has landed a new job as the head of the Limpopo Tourism Agency.

Ndlovu had possibly not thought the skeletons she left in Tshwane would crawl out of the closet.

She was not found guilty of any wrongdoing, but word in the corridors of Tshwane House is that this is because she allegedly refused to co-operate with the investigation into the ill-fated TribeOne Dinokeng Music Festival. The probe is believed to have stated she had a case to answer.

The music extravaganza, which was to be headlined by rapper Nicki Minaj, flopped after the City had already spent millions on artists, infrastructure development and other logistics.

When the ANC lost power last year, it had yet to explain why it chose an undeveloped piece of land as venue for the event when there were numerous options. Her alleged blunder did not end there; when the City of Tshwane installed bins for cigarette pieces and chewing gum, that too failed to take off. The bins were to raise millions through advertising, the City had said.

Towards the end of the ANC rule last year, the ANC used the City’s billboards for campaigns – again under her watch. It is claimed her department cost the City more than R50 million, and the TribeOne disaster is among the blunders that drove a wedge between the ANC and voters.

On the flipside, could she be at fault all by herself ? There has to be someone above her who authorised the expenditures.

These matters will only be laid to rest once the Solly Msimanga administration has released the forensic report into the TribeOne debacle.