Senior officials suspended
2011-08-25
SPARKS flew at an emergency sitting of the council of Drakenstein Municipality on Monday evening, when it was indicated that the municipal manager, Dr Sidima Kabanyane, and the director of corporate services, Khaya Mrali, would be asked to clear their desks. But before this announcement could officially be made, an angry group of jeering ANC councillors walked out of the meeting. This comes after weeks of speculation that the new DA-led executive council will be cleaning up ship and delving deep into the state of the Municipality’s finances to eradicate any signs of corruption and wastage of tax payers’ money. According to a media statement signed by executive mayor Gesie van Deventer, the temporary suspension of Kabanyane and Mrali stems from alleged irregularities, acts and misconduct as reported by the Auditor-General. Included in the allegations against the two suspended municipal officials are contraventions of the supply chain management policy in the procurement of flags for last year’s 2010 Soccer World Cup. The then ANC executive council acquired these flags without the required tender process from a Wellington-based company owned by former ANC mayor, Herman Bailey. These flags adorned lamp posts across Drakenstein at a cost of more than R1 million. Mrali and Kabanyane’s names had previously been tainted, when complaints about the awarding of contracts which were authorised by Mrali, were laid in 2007 when the DA had control of the Council for a few months. This led to Kabanyane’s suspension at the time, pending an investigation into his competence as municipal manager. He was however reinstated three months later when the ANC returned to power after the floor-crossing period. Both Mrali and Kabanyane have always been regarded as politically motivated appointments. The leader of the ANC in Drakenstein, Councillor Abe Bekeer, said that the proceedings against Kabanyane and Mrali were a witch-hunt against the ANC. “We forecast that this is just the beginning of a DA ploy to discredit the ANC.” Kabanyane and Mrali have been suspended as a precautionary measure, with full benefits. By law, the investigation against them must be completed within one month. Dennis Smit, former manager of the Durbanville sub-council of the Cape Town Municipality, will temporarily be filling Kabanyane’s shoes, while André Marais, head of the department of corporate services at Drakenstein Municipality, will act in Mrali’s place.
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