A motion of no confidence against eThekwini Metro Speaker, Thabani Nyawose, is expected to be debated at the end of the month.
The motion has been lodged by one of the smaller parties in the municipality, the African Democratic Change.
The party’s Visvin Reddy has accused Nyawose of trying to hide that municipal manager, Musa Mbhele, is being investigated by police for allegations of fraud and corruption.
Reddy alleges that Mbhele is mentioned in the affidavit lodged by the city’s Integrity and Investigative Unit with police, that he allegedly received kickbacks from a company that was awarded a tender.
“On the 17th of May this year, the city manager was charged, or an affidavit was drawn up by the head of the investigative unit in the municipality making various allegations of his involvement in receiving kickbacks in a particular tender. The whole motion of no confidence against the speaker stems from the fact that he misled the council by stating to us that the city manager was not implicated in any charges. Now it transpires that that is not the case. There is evidence, there are affidavits that have been produced where the city manager is directly implicated in these allegations.”
Meanwhile, the Head of Legal Services in the municipality, Malusi Mhlongo says Mbhele was cleared by an internal investigation.
“The report says there is no prima facie evidence of corruption however, because of the admissions that are made of the unlawful nature, the matter should be reported to the police for further investigation. And that does not constitute a criminal complaint against the city manager. The allegation by the whistleblower is that the money that is said to have been paid to Mbhele originated from that service provider that he would have used to renovate his house.”
More details in the report below:
