Publications
Partners
President Jacob Zuma’s proclamation this week enabling the Special Investigating Unit to probe maladministration in the Alfred Nzo District Municipality has been described as a move meant to deal with his opponents ahead of the ANC’s December elective conference.
The district, which is the second-biggest region in the ANC after the OR Tambo region, has aligned itself with the new provincial executive committee that supports deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa’s presidential bid at the party’s elective conference this December.
The region had initially wanted ANC treasurer- general, Dr Zweli Mkhize, as the next party leader. Zuma is known to favour his ex-wife, and former African Union commission chair, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, to replace him.
Lulama Ngcukayithobi, the provincial secretary of the ANC in the Eastern Cape, said they “suspected” that the president was dealing with opponents given the timing of the SIU proclamation.
“It is state institutions that are being used. But we welcome any investigation wherever it takes place. There was [previously] a proclamation in the same municipality, and the SIU investigation did not yield any results.”
He said its report was yet to be made public. Therefore, they did not see the need for another proclamation to have the district investigated again.
The provincial secretary said they also found it strange that other municipalities in the province, such as the Mnquma Local Municipality, were not being investigated “with the same vigour”.
These were also being accused of corruption in dubious tender deals worth millions of rands but because they were believed to be Zuma’s supporters, they had not been subjected to the SIU investigations.
Ngcukayithobi said the president’s desire to act against corruption in every government sphere must be without fair or favour.
“It’s all over the newspapers that poor administration, maladministration and poor political leadership is a daily occurrence in Amathole and in Mnquma,” he said.
Vukile Mhlelembana, secretary of the ANC in Alfred Nzo said he hopped the timing to unleash the SIU was a coincidence and not political manoeuvring. He said the district would cooperate with the investigation to help get to the bottom of the alleged maladministration once and for all.
The proclamation authorises the SIU, among others, to investigate:
• Intentional or negligent loss of public money;
• Improper and unlawful conduct by councillors, employees or officers of the district municipality; and
• Procurement of goods by or on behalf of the district municipality and payment thereof in a manner was not fair, competitive, transparent, equitable or cost-effective.
Lubabalo Majenge, Alfred Nzo District Municipality spokesperson said council welcomed the SIU investigation. They hoped would restore the institution’s dignity.
He said the council informed its employees familiarise them with contents of the proclamation and implications. It also urged the community and stakeholders to allow the law enforcement agencies to do their work without interruptions.
Majenge added that they would make the outcome of the investigation public once it was released.
Zuma’s spokesperson, Dr Bongani Ngqulunga, could not be reached for comment.
 |
| ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
