Former executive mayor of the City of Ekurhuleni Mzwandile Masina will be issued with an official warning after he was found guilty of crashing a metro police vehicle and fixing it without reporting it to the council for insurance purposes.
The ANC Ekurhuleni regional chairperson damaged the vehicle worth at least R800 000 when he collided with a truck between the N12 and N3 highways in 2019.
He reportedly repaired the vehicle using his own funds.
The decision to issue Masina with a warning is contained in the council’s ethics and integrity committee’s report that was tabled in a council meeting on Thursday.
The report, which Sunday World has seen, reveals that that current mayor Tania Campbell, who replaced Masina last year, filed a complaint with the committee and implored members to discuss the accident and his conduct.
After deliberation, committee members resolved that Masina, who resigned as a councillor this week, be reprimanded.
The report also stated that the Ekurhuleni metropolitan police department’s vehicle policy should be reviewed to cover the use of official vehicles by VIP units and that councillors should be inducted on their official usage.
“There is no reasonable explanation from relevant parties involved on why the insurance claim was not considered to repair damages on the vehicle after the accident. The provisions of Rule 60 of the standing orders by-law do not apply to this item,” reads the report.
The council will also seek counsel from Gauteng corporate governance and e-government MEC Mzi Khumalo on whether Masina, who is campaigning to become ANC treasurer-general when the governing party holds its elective conference next month, should be liable for payment of the luxury vehicle.
A councillor who did not want to be named said after the committee’s report was discussed in council, a decision was taken to issue Masina with a warning.
He also said council took a decision to refer the matter to Khumalo within 14 days to decide on whether Masina should be liable for payment of the vehicle.
The councillor said the committee members had initially wanted to push council to force Masina to pay for the damaged vehicle, which is allegedly no longer usable, but changed their minds when he submitted a police case number, which the council was not aware of. “We will wait for the recommendation of a reply from Khumalo on the matter,” said the councillor.
Responding to requests for comment, municipality spokesperson Phakamile Mbengashe referred Sunday World to spokesperson in the office of the speaker, Lulama Mankabane, who confirmed that the committee tabled the matter at a council meeting on Thursday and recommended that Masina be issued with a formal warning.
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