City officials' fate in balance

The fate of Durban's city manager, Mike Sutcliffe, and three other senior officials is in the hands of an independent forensic investigator assessing the damning Ngubane & Co audit report.

The full eThekwini council yesterday approved an executive council decision to appoint an independent forensic firm to investigate the report, which implicated Sutcliffe, his deputy in charge of procurement, Derek Naidoo, housing head Coughlan Pather, and procurement head Themba Shezi in irregular housing contracts of R3.5-billion over the past 10 years.

The report, which Sutcliffe and his administration have challenged, recommended bringing criminal or disciplinary charges against the four.

Ngubane & Co found they overstepped their mandate and ignored procedures in awarding contracts for a Chatsworth housing project.

It also recommended charging all members of the bid adjudication committee with misconduct.

Ngubane & Co investigated the financial affairs of the municipality after the auditor-general's 2009-2010 report cited irregular and non-compliant spending of R534-million at the municipality.

It found that 53 contracts, totalling more than R16-million, were awarded to councillors and companies owned by employees of the city and that contracts worth R42.5-million were given to government employees outside the city.

Durban's mayor, Obed Mlaba, said yesterday the new probe would "prove or disprove" any findings against Sutcliffe and his administration.

The independent forensic investigation firm is expected to be appointed soon as the deadline for the completion of the probe is two months.

The council's DA caucus leader, Tex Collins, told The Times that the four had "nothing to worry about if their hands were clean".

"If any members of the 20000 employees of the city have honestly never done anything wrong, then they have nothing to fear, but if there is a slight whiff that they have, then they better watch out because they will be pinned down," he said.

The report, which has not yet been made public, could influence the looming local government election.

Sutcliffe and Naidoo were appointed by the ANC.

Mlaba admitted yesterday that the city's image was tarnished.

"Our municipality has been one of the most envied and now that image is tarnished. We need to rally behind efforts to clean up and maintain the position as one of the best municipalities in Africa," he told the city council.

When the allegations surfaced, Sutcliffe tried to save his image in the hopes of being reappointed when his contract ends in June.

He called the Ngubane & Co report a "witch-hunt" and pointed out 90 inaccuracies. - nairn@thetimes.co.za