The former City of Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse is not impressed with the recent appointments of senior managers in the city following the election of new mayor Thapelo Amad.
According to Phalatse, the new appointments are a setback in the fight against corruption. She said they are designed to capture the city.
“The City was on a steady path towards renewal, but there is now a clear and present danger of collapse and setback in the fight against corruption,” said Phalatse.
The former mayor is arguing that Sinaye Nxumalo, who was appointed as acting head of the city’s corruption watchdog, the Group Forensic and Investigation Services (GFIS), is not fit for the job as she is currently being investigated by the very unit she now heads.
“This can only be seen as a ploy to shield those who were under fire for their alleged nefarious acts. It was previously alleged that Ms Nxumalo failed to submit forensic investigations into alleged acts of corruption to the Auditor-General that implicated senior officials.
“It is clear that the new Joburg government will be run in order to serve narrow political agendas, rather than the service delivery needs of the city’s 6-million residents.”
Phalatse has described Amad and his executive as incompetent leaders, saying they will not be able to carry out the duties of the city to completion.
“The city’s annual report was ready to be tabled at the last council meeting. But the report was jettisoned by the new government in the last council meeting, and Mayor Amad has missed the January deadline.
“A report to appoint a permanent City Manager was ready to serve before council but was deliberately shunted aside by the Speaker. No doubt, Mayor Amad will do nothing to get it over the line.
“This month, the City is supposed to adopt an adjustment budget, badly needed to stabilise the City’s finances. This process is now on hold and is unlikely to be passed,” she said.
Added Phalatse: “The work of the municipal entities (the likes of City Power, Pikitup, Joburg Roads Agency, Johannesburg Water, Joburg City Parks and Zoo), which are the city’s main delivery engines, have been all but grounded by a heavy-handed instruction, to the boards, in the form of this letter linked here, to cease functional operations.
“This same call was made during the 25 days the multiparty coalition was illegally removed from office; and can only be seen as a calculated move to undermine and stop ongoing investigations into the likes of the Joburg Property Company and its CEO, Ms Helen Botes, for an allegedly dodgy R27m payment, among other things.
Phalatse said Amad and his executive are “placeholders”, indicating that she had everything in control during her tenure. However, she cannot say the same about the new mayor.
“The multiparty government had a clear repair and rebuild programme for Joburg. The same cannot be said of Mayor Amad and his mayoral committee. But then, they are only ‘placeholders’,” she said.
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