As Madibeng mayor Douglas Maimane's special leave ends on Sunday, it's unclear if he will return to office, as an ad hoc committee tasked with investigating his conduct is yet to complete its work.
The ANC in the North West province forced Maimane to take special leave last month after allegations of nepotism against him prompted an investigation.
The Madibeng municipality on Wednesday could not confirm Maimane's return to office with spokesperson Tumelo Tshabalala only saying: “The executive mayor, councillor Douglas Maimane took leave for a period of 30 days from March 25 2025 to April 25 2025.”
TimesLIVE Premium learnt from insiders at the municipality that an ad hoc committee set up by the council to investigate Maimane's conduct only appointed its legal counsel last week and only began its work this week.
The ad hoc committee consists of three ANC councillors and one each from the DA and the EFF who are supported by a legal counsel.
Tshabalala refused to confirm or deny if Maimane would be back in office next week.
Asked “is he [Maimane] returning to office next week?” Tshabalala reverted to his earlier response that the mayor was on leave until March 25.
“Council resolution on the item regarding the leave of the executive mayor Cllr. Douglas Maimane stated clearly among others that the executive mayor took leave ... and ... will resume his duties on April 26 2025,” Tshabalala said on Wednesday.
He said council had never suspended Maimane, and that his letter relating to his one-month leave was presented in council last month.
This followed an order from the provincial ANC in the North West that Maimane should take special leave pending the finalisation of the nepotism investigations against him.
Maimane, 55, who was appointed in 2021, has faced allegations of nepotism since 2023 after the appointment of his daughter, Bonolo Nkutshweu, as an intern in the municipality’s treasury budget office.
Save South Africa councillor Sydney Monnakgotla, who has tabled no-confidence motions against Maimane, said the delays would compromise the ongoing investigations.
“There's now a likelihood that Maimane's special leave will be extended by another two months. We didn't want to have him placed on special leave in the first place, we lost because the majority opted for that,” Monnakgotla said.
He said officials who may have assisted Maimane to do what he is accused of doing were still at the municipality and may frustrate the ongoing investigations.
“The more we delay, the more we compromise the investigation. What outcome can we expect?” asked Monnakgotla.
He said the five-man ad hoc committee was not properly equipped to investigate Maimane.
“We have been tabling motions calling for an investigation to be done by external people, not counsellors,” Monnakgotla said.
He said the most unfortunate part was that Madibeng would be paying Maimane his full salary, while he was enjoying security protection and a cellphone paid by the municipality, while doing nothing for it.
“We have an acting mayor, too, so we are paying twice for one position. We wanted to get rid of Maimane, not have him on special leave,” Monnakgotla said.
Monnakgotla said they were yet to be notified on the way forward, but rumours were rife that an extension of Maimane's special leave was on the cards.
ANC North West spokesperson Tumelo Maruping had not responded to questions by the time of publication.
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