Axed chief financial officer of the City of Mbombela Local Municipality, Delight Sibanyoni, has cited her acrimonious break-up of her romantic relationship with former Mpumalanga MEC and suspended ANC provincial treasurer Mandla Msibi as one of the reasons for her dismissal from her cushy job.
In court papers filed before the Mbombela High Court this week, Sibanyoni further says her failure to award tenders to companies linked to Msibi was another reason she was ousted.
Sibanyoni’s startling revelation has the potential to further push Msibi’s political career deep into a quagmire.
Sibanyoni, who was pink-slipped last month by the municipal council over a two-year-old dispute regarding her qualifications, had approached the court to urgently review and overturn the decision.
Her application cited five respondents: the speaker, the mayor, the municipal manager, the council and the Mpumalanga MEC for cooperative governance, human settlements and traditional affairs.
However, the court dismissed the urgency of her application this week and directed the matter to be placed on the normal court roll.
At the heart of the case is an explosive annexure – Msibi’s 2023 court application – filed while he was still MEC. In it, he accused Sibanyoni of misrepresenting her experience when applying for the CFO role.
The October 2023 matter included an answering affidavit from Sibanyoni, which was resubmitted as part of this week’s urgent application. Msibi, who was iced last year and is on the verge of returning to his position, claimed he had a duty to challenge her appointment after reading a council report on her employment in early 2023.
Sibanyoni came out swinging in her affidavit, accusing Msibi of abusing his office and acting out of personal vendetta.
“The MEC is acting in bad faith and there is an ulterior purpose propelling this application… I am advised that the incontrovertible bad faith and abuse of office by the applicant justifies the dismissal of the application for reasons I summarily tabulate,” she stated.
“The first is that he and I were romantically involved, and he is the father of my child. The romantic relationship we had and our acrimonious break-up make him ill-suited from bringing the application as he is not objective.”
She further alleged that Msibi was actively involved in her appointment and only turned against her when she refused to approve tenders for companies close to him.
“The applicant was actively involved in the process of my appointment. As I further explain herein under, he was consulted by the second respondent (municipality) when the issue of the term of my appointment was debated.”
Sibanyoni said Msibi’s frustration began when a company not associated with him was awarded a significant construction tender under her watch.
“I was advised that the unsuccessful bidder that is closely associated with the MEC was so unhappy with the outcome of the bid adjudication process that the outcome thereof was reported to the MEC,” she said.
“The MEC was equally exasperated. They agreed in their clandestine meeting that I am a stumbling block… [This application] is a veiled attempt to ensure that I am removed from my position because I am unwilling to bend to the wishes of those who are closely associated with the MEC.
“It is clear that the MEC is misusing his statutory power. He clearly delayed exercising his statutory power within the specified time frame in order to establish whether or not I would yield to his and his friend’s wishes,” she said.
“When it became clear that I would not, he then, as a stick, tried to remove me from the position as CFO. Beyond this, he has also gone to the media scandalising my name.”
Sibanyoni said Msibi’s influence at the municipality dates back to when he served as its council speaker, and their romantic involvement started in 2016 during his tenure. Their relationship ended in 2018.
A date is yet to be set for the matter to be heard under the normal court roll
