Chaos erupted in the City of Johannesburg chambers when the regional chairperson of the South African Municipal Workers Union, Esther Mtatyana was blocked from entering the premises during a stakeholders meeting attended by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Sunday World has learned that Mtatyana was barred from entering the chambers, allegedly through orders from high-ranking ANC and City of Joburg officials. The move was allegedly part of efforts to stop her from spilling the beans on corruption and the state of affairs involving Johannesburg Property Company CEO Helen Botes.
Botes is the long-serving JPC boss whose third-term contract ended in September last year. However, it was renewed illegally by the entity’s chairperson and Joburg ANC regional deputy chairperson Simon Motha.
Last Friday, Mtatyana told Sunday World that she had to force her way into the chambers to address Ramaphosa about how Botes was illegally appointed by Motha after her term in office had ended.
She was eventually let into the room when the president’s security detail and the police agreed to allow her in to avoid further drama.
Botes’s contract was extended by six months after her term ended in September last year.
According to Mtatyana, she was blocked from entering the chambers as it was feared that she was going to spill the beans on the corruption.
“After her [Botes] contract had ended, JPC should have advertised the post as per the Municipal Systems Act, but none of that happened. Motha decided on his own as the chairperson of the JPC board to extend the contract.
“I told the president about how rules were flouted when Helen was given an extension of her contract. Worst of all, Helen was later appointed to be an acting COO of the City of Johannesburg while serving as an acting CEO of JPC,” said Mtatyana.
She said on the eve of Ramaphosa’s visit, she was accused of theft, adding that police wanted to arrest her on accusations of breaking into somebody’s car and stealing a laptop in the parking lot of a popular pub and grill.
“In an attempt to block me from attending the president’s visit, I was accused of breaking into somebody’s car in Mondeor, however, preliminary investigations revealed that my car’s number plates were cloned. I was cleared of any criminal charges. On the same night, the police came to my house claiming that they were from Moroka Police Station and were there to arrest me, but I [had] decided not to go home and slept in Parktown, as that was an attempt to block me from attending the stakeholders’ meeting that the president addressed,” she said.
Mtatyana alleged that Botes was connected to top ANC politicians in Gauteng hence she was never touched even when questionable decisions were made.
Her claims were also supported by the DA shadow MMC of group corporate and shared services David Foley, saying the party is challenging Botes’s appointment as acting CEO of JPC and acting COO of the city.
Foley said the DA had written to the MMC of corporate and shared services, Loyiso Masuku questioning the appointments.
“We sent the letter to the MMC questioning how Botes was appointed but since we asked two weeks ago, we haven’t received any response. We have brought a whole lot of questionable activities regarding Botes appointments,” said Foley.
Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Jacob Mamabolo told Sunday World the allegations were being handled by the city.
“The city is dealing with it as this matter hasn’t come to us. The best approach for us is to monitor it and to see how the city is dealing with it. We do not want to pre-empt or speculate, even before it comes to us. The municipality has never communicated to us about the questions you are raising. Nobody has raised allegations with us. Issues you have raised will make us alert, and we will let the city know,” said Mamabolo.
JPC spokesperson Lucky Sindane referred our inquiry to the JPC board.
Motha and Botes did not respond to questions sent to them when requested to comment.
