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Initially, Cogta went to court to rescind City of Mbombela CFO Delight Sibanyoni’s appointment but has now withdrawn to let council find a resolution internally.

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Sizwe sama Yende

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The Mpumalanga Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) has decided to withdraw its court action to force the City of Mbombela to remove a chief finance officer (CFO).

The CFO, Delight Sibanyoni, has been fighting tooth and nail to keep her job after former MEC Mandla Msibi told the council that he did not concur with her appointment on July 12 2023.

Msibi’s reasons were that there were discrepancies and misrepresentations in Sibanyoni’s CV relating to her work experience.

Cogta head, Samkelo Ngubane, told The People’s Eye that current Human Settlements and Cogta MEC, Speedy Mashilo, preferred a different route than litigation.

“The political leadership prefers that we deal with the matter internally until it is resolved. So, we shall explore the municipality’s internal processes which shall have to be followed as council was not provided full jurisdiction to exhaust all available instruments as it was refused a sitting when it was requesting to do so,” Ngubane said.

Sibanyoni is, however, fighting to avoid suspension in the Labour Court after the council passed a resolution in September to suspend her pending an investigation into misconduct.

Her misconduct relates to her refusal to sign a revised performance agreement, which she claimed had unreasonable demands, after the approval of the adjusted 2023/24 budget.

The Ehlanzeni District Council subsequently hired a law firm, WDT Attorneys, on behalf of the City of Mbombela to investigate Sibanyoni for misconduct.

According to her affidavit filed in the Labour Court to have the the council’s resolution set aside, declared unlawful and to interdict its implementation, Sibanyoni argues that:

·      The council breached its own resolution to investigate and present a report within 30 days. Instead, it submitted a “memorandum disguised as an investigation report” from WDT;

·      The council resolved to take disciplinary action against her based on an opinion or memorandum rather than an investigation;

·      WDT Attorney was not independent, as the council resolution directed, and the firm had a contract with the municipality to provide legal services;

“The unlawful conduct is causing harm to my dignity and finances. Regarding my dignity, I now suffer anxiety because I’m forever falsely accused and subjected to unlawful processes,” Sibanyoni said in her affidavit.

She said that mayor, Sibongile Makushe-Mazibuko, manager, Wiseman Khumalo, and speaker, William Nkatha, should pay the costs from their own pocket and not burden the taxpayer.

Khumalo, she said, misled the council when he submitted a memorandum instead of an investigation report while the mayor and speaker failed to apply their minds.

“The costs of the memorandum constitute wasteful and fruitless expenditure because it is not what the council ordered,” she added.

The Labour Court’s ruling is pending.

Cogta’s reasons for trying to rescind Sibanyoni’s appointment previously were that she lied in her application letter and CV that she had been a senior manager for financial planning and budgeting since 2009, while she had only occupied that position since 2019. The municipality’s lawyers made this finding on May 12 2023.

Msibi has said: “I, Mandla Jeffrey Msibi, in my capacity as the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs hereby notify the municipality that I do not concur with the appointment of Ms DN Sibanyoni as the chief financial officer of the City of Mbombela, which is based on misrepresentation.”

“Based on the above-mentioned, I hereby direct the municipal council to rescind its decision on the appointment of Ms DN Sibanyoni as the chief financial officer of the City of Mbombela Local Municipality.”