General News
eThekwini mayor Cyril Xaba has responded to allegations of corruption and malfunction in the city, challenging anyone with evidence to bring it to his office.
This was in response to letters sent to the municipality by co-operative governance and traditional affairs MEC Rev Thulasizwe Buthelezi about reports from whistle-blowers of fraud, corruption and maladministration in the city.
Buthelezi said in a statement on Thursday he had forwarded “nine detailed allegations together with explosive annexures” to Xaba and expected a timeous response.
Xaba told the eThekwini executive committee on Tuesday the allegations were reported to the media and not to the authorities. He said those who are aware of such practices should report them to the authorities who have the capacity to investigate them, such as the police or the city integrity and investigative unit (CIIU).
“Other than people raising allegations either in the print or social media, I am yet to see evidence to support the allegations. If they are convinced there is substance in the allegations they are raising, they need to report them to law enforcement agencies,” he said.
He said the department had written three letters to his office in the past two weeks to which he had responded.
He said he would not divulge the contents of his response to the public but they would be discussed in an in-committee meeting with executive committee members to maintain confidentiality.
He said he was concerned about the leaking of the “confidential” letters between the city and the province to the media, saying he won’t be drawn on them.
Xaba stopped short of accusing the department of leaking to the media the letters to his office.
“We will not respond to MEC Buthelezi via the media. I have responded to the MEC and our letter has not been leaked because we don’t believe in trying to score political points,” he said. “I don’t believe leaking confidential letters to the media is the best way to conduct business between the city and the province.”
Issues such as maladministration, collapsing municipal services and the poor state of the city’s finances were among the reasons cited when Buthelezi placed eThekwini municipality under section 154 administration in June.
He appointed an intervention team, headed by former city manager Mike Sutcliffe and former director-general in the Presidency Cassius Lubisi, to assess the challenges facing the city and draw up a turnaround strategy.
It is one of two task teams working with the city to help it get its affairs in order, along with the presidential eThekwini working group which was established by President Cyril Ramaphosa in April.
Xaba said the city welcomes any form of support from all spheres of government.
“Indeed, any support offered must be aimed at assisting not to find reasons to sink the city,” Xaba said.
TimesLIVE
