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The DA in eThekwini demands that the municipal manager, Musa Mbhele, be suspended immediately pending the conclusion of the investigation into his alleged illegal appointment.

The DA will write to the CoGTA MEC, Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi, requesting that Mbhele be removed immediately.

The screening committee was required to provide the selection panel with the 2019 report issued by the City Integrity and Investigations Unit (CIIU), which implicates Mbhele in a violation of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) Section 116(3) by entering into a Memorandum of Agreement that changed the terms of a tender contract without council approval.

According to the report, disciplinary processes were recommended against him, but they were not implemented when he was appointed city manager.

This report was never presented to Exco and Council, nor was it supplied to the selection panel that ultimately approved Mbhele's appointment.

The report was clearly kept under wraps to ensure that the illegal appointment of Mbhele would go unchallenged, fulfilling the agenda of factional battles within the ANC.

The DA would not have endorsed the employment of the city manager, being fully aware of his past transgressions and pending disciplinary hearing.

Issued by Councillor Thabani Mthethwa - DA eThekwini Caucus Leader