The Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) is piling pressure on the eThekwini Municipality and wants it to address allegations of fraud and corruption that have been made.
eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba revealed that he had received at least three letters from Cogta MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi this month.
He briefed the members of the executive committee during a private meeting on Tuesday on the contents of these letters.
It was not immediately clear whether all three letters speak to allegations of corruption in the City, but “The Mercury” is in possession of one of the letters in which the MEC details the allegations that his office had received from whistle-blowers.
In the letter, the MEC lists the number of people who have brought allegations against the City to his office including forensic investigators, a lawyer, an advocate, a labour union and an anonymous whistle-blower.
They apparently detail allegations of fraud and corruption, maladministration and other forms of malfeasance in the metro.
Shortly after taking office, MEC Buthelezi had put the municipality on notice, reintroducing the section 154 intervention team after it had initially been blocked by ANC councillors.
The mayor lamented that the letters were leaked.
The issue of the letters was brought up after DA councillor Thabani Mthethwa asked the mayor to explain the allegations of corruption that have been swirling around the City.
Mthethwa said the failure to address the allegations created an impression that corruption was being ignored by councillors.
However, ANC councillors pushed back saying that they could not be expected to respond to allegations floating in the media, adding that anyone with evidence of corruption must report it to the police.
Addressing the allegations, Xaba said he had been called about the allegations of corruption in the City numerous times but was yet to be presented with any evidence of wrongdoing.
“If they are convinced that there is substance in the allegations they are raising, they need to report the allegations to law enforcement agencies.
“Anyone who is aware of fraud being committed or corruption taking place in the city must report it to the City’s Integrity and Investigative Unit for investigation or the police because they have the capacity to conduct such investigations.
“I have received at least three letters from the office of the MEC for Cogta in the past two weeks, one after the other.
Before I can answer one letter, another letter will follow and then these letters get leaked. Sometimes they are sent to me and are leaked before I have even read them,” the mayor said in frustration.
“We have responded to the MEC and I can tell you that our response is not going to get leaked, if it’s leaked it will be by some others,” said Xaba.
ANC councillor Thembo Ntuli said anyone with evidence of crime must open a criminal case.
“We cannot be discussing newspapers, anyone with evidence must open a criminal case. It happens that the people who want us to sit and discuss these issues here are the same people that leak the information.”
ANC provincial spokesperson Mafika Mndebele said the priority of the seventh administration was to fight fraud and corruption.
“The investigation into fraud and corruption should not be politicised because if they are, it makes the culprit find a shield in their political parties, and it compromises investigations.
What should be happening is that the culprits are identified and face the law.
“We have (noted) the letters but we believe these letters between state institutions should not be flying all over social media, the investigations into corruption should not be turned into a political football,” he said.
The Mercury