UDM councillor Mongameli Bobani has taken his gripe with city boss Johann Mettler to the Special Investigating Unit, asking it to probe Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.
Bobani, along with suspended internal audit senior investigator Werner Wiehart, met a member of the SIU on Friday when the Mohlaleng Media contract and other matters were discussed.
Bobani has accused Mettler of fraudulently signing an addendum extending the scope of the contract.
The Mohlaleng matter was meant to be one of the issues raised by Bobani at yesterday’s council meeting in his motivation as to why he believes Mettler should be suspended.
The meeting collapsed when opposition councillors walked out before the matter could be debated.
But Bobani believes the city’s political leadership has knowingly sat on this information and done nothing about it.
Earlier this week, he confirmed that he and Wiehart had met members of the SIU.
Bobani said he was convinced that corruption and fraud had taken place, and that there was strong evidence to support this.
“Mettler and Trollip have something to answer on this. I want them to pay that money and face fraud and corruption charges,” he said.
Mayor Athol Trollip, however, commissioned a forensic probe into the contract.The findings have yet to be made public.
Diane Boesak, from the SIU in the Eastern Cape, confirmed the meeting with Bobani and Wiehart had taken place and that the Mohlaleng matter had been discussed.
Asked if the SIU was investigating Bobani’s claims, its head of communications, Nazreen Pandor, said it was assessing the situation.
“Our legislation, the Special Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act of 1996, requires that we obtain a proclamation from the president prior to commencing any investigation.
“The Special Investigating Unit is currently assessing this matter and, as such, no proclamation has been issued permitting us to investigate this matter,” Pandor said.
Asked if he was aware of the meeting between Bobani and the SIU, Mettler said that he was not. Nor was he aware of any investigation.
“I am more than prepared to work with any government institution,” he said.
“The municipality has already investigated it and so has the Hawks, and any other investigation is more than welcome on my side.”
Presidency spokeswoman Khusela Diko said the president would not sign an SIU proclamation on an individual.
“What the president signed was an investigation into alleged irregularities [in] a number of municipalities in the Eastern Cape linked to the Mandela funeral,” she said.
“It wouldn’t be an individual, it would be a municipality or a government department.”
Speaking after yesterday’s meeting collapsed, Trollip said the Mohlaleng report was concluded a month ago but he had sent the draft back as it had not been adequately prepared.He said he was still negotiating with the law firm that commissioned the advocates to conduct the investigation.
“Until that report is done to my satisfaction, I am not going to give it to you because it’s not even a month old. So please, let’s be fair about this,” he said.
“There’s a report around the IPTS where R2.5-billion was spent and nobody asks me about it, but there’s a report around Mohlaleng Media where R21-million was spent and everyone keeps phoning me every day saying ‘where is the report’.
“You’re going to get the report because I commissioned it. The issues councillor Bobani has raised such as Mohlaleng, appointment of people, I’ve taken them to court, I’ve stopped payment, I’ve instituted forensic investigations and I’m in fact looking forward to having that debate with councillor Bobani,” he said.
Trollip said Bobani was one of the first people to walk out of yesterday’s council meeting.
“If you had something this serious about a city manager, surely you would want it debated? Ironically, he was the first person to walk out today.”