I am pleased to report to the residents of our City, that Council has officially dismissed its first Section 56 Manager.
Section 56 Managers are protected by law that requires an extensive disciplinary process to be followed.
This comes on the back of the ANC laying a complaint to the Public Protector, and in a statement released by the ANC last week, in which it accused the multi-party government of continuing to “purge worthy and competent staff members.”
The official in question, Mr Molaodi Khutsoane, occupied the position of Group Executive Director of Group Corporate and Shared Services (GCSS). A forensic investigation was initiated following the discovery of the highly problematic process during the capacitation of the Office of the Ombudsman.
Arising from the disciplinary hearing, Khutsoane was found guilty of all charges which included:
• Fraud;
• Contravention of Supply Management Policy;
• Contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act;
• Gross Dereliction of Duties; and
• Gross Negligence in the course of his duties.
Following the announcement of the previous administration to establish the Office of the Ombudsman, Mr Khutsoane was placed in charge of the processes leading to its launch. A company was appointed, without a competitive process, to establish the call centre for the Office of the Ombudsman. The company have no prior experience in setting up or operating a call centre. Furthermore the Director of this appointed company had previously held business interests with another senior manager in the City, who has subsequently resigned.
Documents were fraudulently back-dated to circumvent Supply Chain Management and R6.5 million worth of capital budget was expended on the ICT infrastructure, which never became the property of the City at the expiry of the contract. The contract itself was also extended irregularly, incurring over R600 000 in irregular expenditure after it had concluded. Residents will recall the failures of this call centre, and no penalties were instituted despite the poor level of service from the provider.
In his sanction, the Chairperson of the Disciplinary Enquiry stated “In my view it would be unreasonable to expect the Employer to keep an employee of such calibre in its employ.”
When the residents of Johannesburg elected a new multi-party government in August 2016, they demanded an end to the protection of those guilty of wrongdoing.
While the ANC continues to label such efforts as ‘purging’ we remain clear that those who are found guilty of improper conduct have no place in this government. There is no such thing as government money, it is public money entrusted to the City to benefit our residents.
It must be noted that the ANC have opposed the multi-party government’s efforts, at every turn, in this process to ensure accountability. This just confirms how the ANC had sheltered the politically connected in the administration and punished anyone who spoke out against them.
I have instructed our Group Forensics Unit in the City to lay criminal charges against Khutsoane and the Directors of the Company and to be of assistance to the NPA, in any way necessary.
This outcome is a victory for the residents of our City, who deserve an administration that operates with the highest standards of ethics in dealing with public funds.
I would like to express my deepest respect and gratitude to our coalition partners and the EFF for their shared commitment to combatting criminal wrongdoing in the City. Together, we will achieve an administration in our City that our residents can be proud of.
Cllr Herman Mashaba
Executive Mayor
City of Joburg
For further information, please contact
Luyanda Mfeka
Director: Mayoral Communications
Office of the Executive Mayor
Cell: 076 171 5978
Email: luyandam@joburg.org.za