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We deliberately want to look at this as a misunderstanding, otherwise it looks like cheap politics which has no place in our democracy. - Sithole-Moloi said

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Sizwe sama Yende

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KwaZulu-Natal Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi, was locked out of a Disaster Centre where a former mayor’s wife was irregularly employed.

Sithole-Moloi went to open the R57 million centre at Amajuba District Municipality in Newcastle on Friday, but found no one but a locked gate.

According to a statement from the MEC’s office all protocols were followed which included inviting district mayor, Prince Ndabuko Zulu, and municipal manager, Mpumelelo Manqele.

“Upon our arrival to open the facility, all the doors were locked with no workers inside. Several attempts to gain access to the disaster management centre failed, prompting the department to acquire the services of a locksmith to open the facility,” Sithole-Moloi said in a statement.

It is unclear if the action by Amajuba district’s leaders has anything to do with an unfolding scandal about how Nonkululeko Maphisa (28) - who is the wife of IFP’s national council member and former Abaqulusi Local Municpality, Mncedisi Maphisa – got a job as deputy director of the centre.

The post was never advertised, not budgeted for and was not in the organogram.

Maphisa landed the post in April after she left Emadlangeni Local Municipality in Utrecht, where she was corporate services director, following revelations that she had embellished her CV.

A forensic audit report by The Corruption Hotline (Pty) Ltd confirmed that Maphisa lied when she said she had five years of middle management experience from her previous employment at Ulundi Local Municipality.

She claimed she worked as assistant manager for legal services at Ulundi while, in fact, she was only an intern. The post of assistant manager did not exist at the time Maphisa indicated in her CV.

The Emadlangeni council however accepted her resignation and decided against instituting a civil claim against Maphisa – to recoup all the money she earned – due to “projected costs and a long process that may be involved in the legal proceedings in this matter.”

Maphisa earned R905 000 per annum at Emadlangeni, and was paid about R525 000 in the seven months she worked at the municipality.

Manqele has declined to answer questions from The People’s Eye about Maphisa’s employment.

IFP spokesperson, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, said that Maphisa was not employed by the IFP.

“The matter of Mrs Maphisa’s employment must be responded to by the municipality. The IFP expects that due process must be followed in all processes,” Hlengwa said.

Provincial Cogta spokesperson, Siboniso Mngadi, had not responded to questions about Maphisa’s employment when the story was published.

Sithole-Moloi said that the department had prioritised the construction of the Amajuba Disaster and Fire Centre following a series of floods and fire disasters, particularly around the areas of Madadeni, Osizweni, and Utrecht.

MEC Sithole-Moloi called Manqele to get the keys  but he informed her that he was acting on the instruction of the Mayor to lock the facility.

“Disaster Centres are critical facilities that should be open 24 hours to the public. This is a government facility built to assist communities; it is unacceptable for one person to decide to close it down. Anything could have happened while that facility was locked with no personnel inside. We are dismayed by this conduct by the municipality. As a department, we will engage them through the correct platforms to address these issues. We cannot allow a public facility to be turned into private property where one person decides when it should open," Sithole-Moloi said.

She added that Amajuba leadership displayed a lack of understanding of cooperative governance. “We deliberately want to look at this as a misunderstanding, otherwise it looks like cheap politics which has no place in our democracy,” Sithole-Moloi said.