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City Press: Hotspot voters dump ANC

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http://www.citypress.co.za/SouthAfrica/News/Tatane-effect-voters-dump-ANC-20110423

Hotspot voters dump ANC
2011-04-24 10:00
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by Sizwe sama Yende, Lucas Ledwaba, Dumisane Lubisi and Cedric Mboyisa

Delivery hotspots that have blazed in protest could become no-vote zones for the governing ANC.

City Press this week went to five towns worst affected by violent protests across three provinces, and found that comrades are boycotting, turning to the opposition or standing as independents.

This is a significant shift, as protests have never before translated into a negative effect at the polls for the ANC.

A recent report by the Human Sciences Research Council indicated that residents will not cast their votes primarily because of “political disinterest and disillusionment”.

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has recorded a remarkable increase in the number of independent candidates standing in the local elections – 748 this year as opposed to 663 previously.

In Mpumalanga, which has been the epicentre of protests since 2009, there is visible and voluble anger at the ANC.

In Balfour, which President Jacob Zuma visited twice to calm the mood, the incumbent mayor, Malebane Tsotetsi, has made the list of councillors contesting the May 18 polls for the ANC.

As a result, the community and ANC members have endorsed independent candidates from five out of the six wards of Dipaleseng municipality to fight the elections.

This, according to community leader and ANC Youth League member Zakhele Maya, is because the list has been rigged and it “failed to consider people’s feelings and wishes”.

During their protests, residents demanded that Tsotetsi be axed because he was useless. Residents had lodged complaints with Luthuli House, Maya said, but there had been “no conclusive response”.

In Ermelo the community is pushing ahead with a call for its residents to boycott elections after four independent councillors were disqualified by the IEC.

The community says voting is not an option since the ANC’s Gert Sibande region had already decided who should become councillors.

City Press: Living in a place with no name

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http://www.citypress.co.za/SouthAfrica/Features/Living-in-a-place-with-no-name-20110319

Living in a place with no name

Erna Van Wyk

A R952-million state-of-the-art prison adorns the outskirts of the Northern Cape capital, Kimberley.

Complete with sports fields, art, educational, vocational and health facilities, the New Kimberley Correctional Centre is a real showpiece. Even its 8km sewer line is something to be a bit jealous of.

But just a few kilometres away, apartheid’s bucket toilets still line the corners of red Kalahari dust plots where corrugated iron shanties are neatly packed in a row.

One bucket toilet per two households, and even then, the Sol Plaatje municipality will sometimes not collect the buckets for weeks, says Jennefir Jonas (39).

She has been living in this place with no name for 14 months now. Just across a small veld, the brick homes of Phomolong in Galeshewe are visible.

Along with her neighbours, Jonas was moved from Phomolong, “placed here” by the municipality in the open veld with no services because their shanties “bring down the property value” of the brick-home owners.

They are waiting here for their RDP houses to be built.

It has become a long wait, with some residents having been here more than three years with no property rights, only two water taps per street for more than 10 households and no electricity.

The place with no name has become their home, but being permanently in transit also means they cannot settle.

And the prospect of ever owning their own homes is slipping away election after election.

“I do not mind living in a shanty, but I want to know it is my place. We need water, toilets and electricity,” says Jonas as she contemplates who she is going to vote for in the local government elections on May 18.

“I can’t cement my floor. I can’t do anything. Maybe now after 16 years of the ANC (in power), another party can do something for us.”

Her neighbour, Prudence Mahadika (30), is not convinced that voting will change anything and has not bothered to register.

Despite having a matric certificate and some computer skills, she has been unable to find a job. She is also not convinced that voting for any other party will make a difference.

Says Mahadika: “They (political parties) have not convinced me that they will do something better.

Voting will only mean an increase in their salaries, and that’s why I’m not going to vote.”

In another shantytown, ironically dubbed Transit Camp, Agnes Andrews is washing clothes in a bathtub while Patricia Solane keeps her company.

They too do not mind living in a corrugated iron shanty, but running water, electricity and toilets are what they keep on praying for despite “all the empty promises” that have been made.

Just down the road, security guard Kenneth Pompier, one of the few who are employed, works around his home.

“We dug our own toilets here.

Every time before a vote, we are promised that toilets will be erected,” says Pompier.

“It is all election promises again.

But now I’m sceptical. For me, all political parties look the same.

If the ANC can’t do it, no one else can.

They do have the money, though, but I think the money is only for them (the politicians) and their tjommies (friends).”

George Mokgoro, Fila Mathabatha and Kenneth Shabela do not have “friends in high places” who can help them with jobs.

“People at the municipality just look after their maatjies (mates). Just like that,” Mokgoro says, clicking his fingers.

“You see, maatjies get jobs.”

He describes the election process with a smile curling up the left side of his face: “It’s all about self-enrichment, you see.

“People living in your community will stand to become councillors and ask you to vote for them, making all kinds of promises of what they will do for the community.

“Then, when they get elected, they move away from the community to their new fancy houses, buy cars and forget about ‘their’ people.”

– City Press

Forensic audit of Sutcliffe, Mlaba et al

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http://www.citypress.co.za/SouthAfrica/News/KZN-launches-probe-into-city-administration-20110317

KZN launches probe into city administration
2011-03-17 11:50

Paddy Harper

A wide-ranging forensic investigation into the embattled eThekwini Municipality after months of allegations of corruption and maladministration levelled against city manager Mike Sutcliffe, his administrative team and councillors, has been launched by KwaZulu-Natal’s Local Government Ministry.

The probe comes in the wake of a city appointed audit being suppressed by city officials and a damning auditor general’s report nailing Sutcliffe’s team for using emergency funding regulations to pay out more than R500 million in irregular expenditure for sub-standard low cost housing projects around the city.

Local government MEC Nomusa Dube said yesterday the earlier audits had provided prima facie evidence of maladministration and failure to abide by regulations around supply chain management and tender procedures and that her ministry had decided to step in and get to the bottom of the matter.

The new probe, which will be carried out by an experienced company of independent forensic auditors and would dovetail with separate investigations by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) and other state agencies, would cover:

» Irregular expenditure caused by poor budget controls;

» Failure by city officials to follow supply chain management procedures around key infrastructure and housing projects;

» The failure of city official and councillors – including mayor Obed Mlaba – to disclose their financial interests;

Irregular tender procedures and awards;

» The illegal rental and sale of RDP houses;

» Irregularities in staff appointments and abuse of travel and other allowances;

» Fraudulent practices in the Durban Metropolitan Police; and

» Irregularities in the city’s development and planning department.

Dube said the probe would also take in any other information which came to light from the public and officials and said “serious steps’’ would be taken against any city official or councillor who refused to cooperate.

Earlier probes have been hampered by the refusal of key city officials to both cooperate and hand over documentation to investigators.

Dube said that while the city was “not collapsing’’ it was clear that “something wrong is taking place in the city’’.

She said when the probe was completed the city would be forced to take “decisive action and corrective measures’’.

Criminal charges would be laid against any official or councillor found guilty of corruption, fraud or maladministration, while civil action would be taken to recover city funds paid out illegally.She was unable to provide an exact timeframe for the probe to be completed, saying it would be retrospective and would “go as deep as it needs to go.”

– City Press

http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article973466.ece/Mayor-and-city-boss-to-be-probed

Mayor and city boss to be probed
Mar 17, 2011 10:11 PM | By NIVASHNI NAIR

Durban mayor Obed Mlaba and city manager Mike Sutcliffe are to be investigated as part of a wider probe into alleged fraud and corruption in the eThekwini Municipality.

KwaZulu-Natal co-operative governance MEC Nomusa Dube said yesterday: “There is something wrong in this municipality and we believe that we need to investigate.

“We have been monitoring the latest developments in the municipality with keen interest and utmost concern.”

The ANC called on Dube to order a forensic investigation after the auditor-general found that the city had irregularly spent R535-million and the Ngubane audit implicated Sutcliffe and three officials in irregular housing contracts of R3.5-billion over the past 10 years.

Mlaba allegedly had shares in a company that nearly landed a R3-billion tender to convert the city’s waste to energy.

Dube said yesterday the investigation would cover:

*Irregular expenditure resulting from inadequate controls over the budget and payment processes;

*Non-disclosure of interests by councillors and officials;

*Irregularities in the awarding of contracts, payments and performance management of telecommunications;

*The alleged illegal rental and sale of RDP houses;

*Irregularities in travel and overtime allowances and appointment of staff; and

*Alleged fraudulent practices in the metro police.

The outcome of the investigation would compel the municipality to take decisive action and corrective measures and would lead to criminal and civil prosecutions if unlawful activities were unearthed, Dube said.

The forensic probe would begin immediately.

http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2011/03/18/leave-no-stone-unturned

‘Leave no stone unturned’
18 Mar 2011 | Mhlaba Memela

KWAZULU-Natal MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs Nomusa Dube has appointed a forensic auditing firm to probe fraud, corruption and maladministration allegations in the eThekwini metro

Manase and Associates will lead an investigation into the affairs of the ANC-led municipality. This latest investigation will supersede all previous probes that were conducted into the affairs of the municipality.

The audit firm is tasked with unearthing any irregularities and maladministration concerning the awarding of tenders.

The municipality has hogged the headlines in the past few months following auditor-general Terrence Nombembe’s report indicating that R532million had been spent irregularly by the council.

Recently it also surfaced that mayor Obed Mlaba is part of a company that nearly landed a R3billion deal with the city to convert waste to energy.

The MEC said she had received representations and reports concerning allegations of maladministration, fraud and corruption.

“The documents include reports on an investigation requested by the accounting officer of the municipality undertaken by Ngubane and Company, the management letter of the auditor-general and an internal audit report,” Dube said.

She said it would appear from the findings of these reports that there is prima facie evidence of maladministration and a failure to comply with procedures and legislation.

“There is currently no evidence of any fraud and corruption,” Dube said. “The scope of these reports was, however, limited and it appeared to be additional areas of concern and further allegations, which have not been investigated.”

The forensic firm’s scope of investigation comprises allegations of illegal rentals and sale of RDP houses, non-disclosure of interests by councillors and officials, irregularities in the supply chain management in the awarding of tenders, payments and performance management in respect of telecommunications, human resource irregularities when recruiting, selecting and appointing staff.

Other allegations are the abuse of travel claims, overtime, allowances, development and planning offices, and non-compliance with street traders’ by-laws.

Dube said any other consequential matters that may arise will form part of the investigation.

“The eThekwini municipality still has a healthy balance,” she said.

Cosatu applauded Dube’s decision to institute a comprehensive forensic investigation into the affairs of the eThekwini municipality.

Secretary Zet Luzipho said the move is long overdue and appealed to Dube to “leave no stone unturned”.

http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/firm-to-probe-ethekwini-1.1043484

Firm to probe eThekwini

March 17 2011 at 09:38pm

A forensic auditing firm has been appointed to probe fraud, corruption and maladministration allegations in the eThekwini municipality, KwaZulu-Natal’s co-operative governance MEC said on Thursday.

“There is something wrong in the municipality and we believe there is a need to investigate,” Nomusa Dube told reporters in Durban.

The allegations relate to the awarding of tenders.

Auditor General Terrence Nombembe’s 2009/10 report indicated R532-million had been spent irregularly in the municipality, which runs the city of Durban.

The Mercury newspaper recently reported that mayor Obed Mlaba was part of a company that nearly landed a R3-billion deal with the city to convert waste to energy.

Dube said she had received representation and reports on claims of corruption, fraud and maladministration. Documents she received included a report following a probe by accountants Ngubane & Co, an eThekwini municipality internal report and the AG’s report.

“It would appear from the findings of these reports that there is prima facie evidence of maladministration and failure to comply with procedures and legislative provisions.

“In view of the seriousness of the allegations, we have deemed it appropriate to institute a forensic investigation.”

Dube however said the municipality would not be put under administration because it was not falling apart. “The municipality is not collapsing. It’s finances are okay.”

She invited whistle blowers to help the department get to the bottom of the problems. Dube said auditing firm Manase and Associates had been appointed to conduct the investigation, which would cover:

– Irregular expenditure resulting from inadequate budgetary controls, controls over payment processes and weak checks and balances.

– Non compliance with supply chain management policies for infrastructure and housing projects.

– Non disclosure of interests by councillors and officials.

– Irregularities in the awarding of contracts, payments and performance management of telecommunications.

– The illegal rental and sale of RDP houses.

– Abuse of overtime and travel allowances.

– Alleged fraudulent practices at the Durban metro police.- Sapa

City Press: Cops ‘tortured’ man to confess protest plot

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http://www.citypress.co.za/SouthAfrica/News/Cops-tortured-man-to-confess-protest-plot-20110305

Cops ‘tortured’ man to confess protest plot
2011-03-06 10:00

Sizwe sama Yende

Mpumalanga police have allegedly joined the province’s ANC faction fights, with a community leader claiming he was tortured to implicate senior ­politicians in the recent Ermelo riots.

Dumisani Mahaye (29) is one of more than 100 residents who were arrested for public violence and incitement after ­going on the rampage on February 13, causing damage worth R350 000 to ­municipal property.

Mahaye was arrested on February 20 and released on R800 bail two days later. He alleges that police tortured him and then instructed him to confess that ANC ­provincial executive committee members and Premier David Mabuza’s rivals – Lassy Chiwayo and Fish Mahlalela – as well as ward councillor candidate Bongani Phakathi, gave him money to incite the community.“

A group of about 10 policemen arrived when I was sleeping.

They said they were looking for a firearm and ransacked my house. They beat me up there and then, and took me to the police station’s radio room where they beat me up again. They dipped my head into a bucket of water and suffocated me by putting plastic over my face,” Mahaye said.

He said the police officers held him down. “ Whenever I gave them an answer they didn’t like, I would be strangled, slapped and kicked.“One of them liked kicking or holding my balls. Then they would dip my head in the bucket and put the plastic over my head, and start interrogating me.

“This happened many times because I didn’t want to confess to anything in the beginning,” he said.

Mahaye said he did not know all the police officers’ names.“The one interrogating me told me that I must confess that Chiwayo, Mahlalela and Phakathi gave me money to incite the community. I don’t even know Chiwayo and ­Mahlalela.

They also forced me to ­confess that I made and distributed ­petrol bombs and tyres,” he added. Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Lindela Mashigo declined to comment on Mahaye’s claims.“The matter is sub judice so I can’t say more about that aspect.

However, if he feels he was tortured, he must report the matter to the Independent Complaints Directorate,” Mashigo said.“The nature of the charges is purely criminal.

We deal with crime, not ­politics,” he added.Mabuza’s camp has accused Chiwayo and Mahlalela of instigating and funding the spate of service delivery protests that have taken place in Mpumalanga.Chiwayo said: “I won’t dignify such nonsense with a response.

I would ­expect police to desist from taking a ­political side.”

Mahlalela said he did not know ­Mahaye. “How can I buy someone I don’t even know?

It looks like the same agenda they’ve tried before. Some people are very desperate,” he said.

– City Press

City Press: Crackdown on leaky RDP deals proving to be costly

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http://www.citypress.co.za/SouthAfrica/News/Crackdown-on-leaky-RDP-deals-proving-to-be-costly-20110305

Crackdown on leaky RDP deals proving to be costly
2011-03-06 10:15

Paddy Harper

KwaZulu-Natal’s human settlements ministry has cracked down on dodgy housing contractors, whose shoddy work on RDP houses is costing the province more than R1 billion in demolition and rebuilding costs.

At the same time, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), has launched 13 investigations into a number of housing contractors and provincial and municipal officials over tender irregularities, corruption and other offences.

A number of the investigations are focused on tenders and contracts within the eThekwini Municipality, particularly contracts issued in terms of emergency funding regulations used to pay for housing projects.

This resulted in unauthorised expenditure of more than R500 million in the last financial year.

This week human settlements and public works MEC Maggie Govender ordered the demolition of 493 low-cost houses in Underberg. They were built by Ntokozweni Developers as part of a project to build 1 200 houses.

About 80% of the 27 000 RDP houses inspected by the department since last May will have to be demolished and rebuilt.

On Thursday Govender and Premier Zweli Mkhize met with contractors to outline the changed regulations.

In terms of the new policy:

»No contractor can hold more than four housing contracts at any time;
»Large housing projects are being broken down into smaller, more manageable phases involving more contractors;
»All new contracts will have definite time frames;
»No contractor will be paid until work is completed and ­inspected to the department’s satisfaction;
»No contractor will be allowed to “bank” tenders and take on work that can only be completed at a later stage; and
»Existing contracts will be ­reviewed and terminated if contractors are not performing.

“Since last May we have been putting systems in place to ensure improved delivery. Projects cannot take up to five years to complete because contractors have taken on more work than they can handle or where they are subcontracting to unregistered companies,’’ said Govender.

She said more cases would be opened in the SIU probe. Four staff members have already been arrested for fraud and have ­appeared in court.

The province has also drawn in bodies from the building, engineering and quantity surveying fields to act as an inspectorate on all state housing projects.

Dodgy contractors will be blacklisted and referred to the National Home Builders’ Registration Council for disciplinary action.

– City Press