A former senior eThekwini Metro official wants City Manager Musa Mbhele to be held accountable for a R20 Million wasteful and fruitless expenditure.
Sibusiso Makhanya, the former deputy city manager for trading services, has unleashed his lawyers on the metro in a bid to force it to subject Mbhele to a disciplinary hearing.
Arguing that the municipality should be consistent in applying its disciplinary code, Makhanya, in a letter sent through his lawyers, Macgregor Erasmus Attorneys Inc, gave eThekwini Municipality seven days to act against Mbhele.
He did not specify what cause of action, if any, he will take should his demands not be met.
Makhanya left the employ of eThekwini on 31 December last year after reaching an amicable deal with his former employer.
That was after he was charged for failing to give an instruction to the City’s legal department to defend a lawsuit where a service provider was suing the municipality for breach of contract.
Due to his negligence, the company obtained a default judgment and won against the municipality.
The eThekwini Municipality then charged him for misconduct after Mbhele, his manager, laid charges against him. During his hearing which was later aborted in favour of a settlement, Makhaya decried that the municipal disciplinary code was inconsistently applied among employees.
Makhanya now feels vindicated after, on February 27, 2025, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) turned down an application for leave to appeal by eThekwini in a matter involving it and Pholobas Projects CC.
The municipality wanted to set aside a ruling that it should pay the company R20 million. That was after Mbhele failed to give instruction to the legal department to defend the lawsuit when Pholobas Projects applied in court to have eThekwini forced to pay it.
Makhanya has since written to Mayor Cyril Xaba to alert the council that the municipality has incurred wasteful and fruitless expenditure through Mbhele’s negligence and he should be hauled over the coals.
“Mr Mbele was the person responsible for eThekwini having the default judgement granted against it and therefore incurring fruitless and wasteful expenditure. This letter serves as notice in terms of regulation 3(1) of the Municipal Regulations on Financial Misconduct Procedures and Criminal Proceedings, 2014 (“the Regulations”), which states the following:
“Any person must report an allegation of financial misconduct against (c) the accounting officer of a municipal entity, to the chairperson of the Board of directors, the Mayor and the accounting officer of the entity’s parent municipality.” Regulation 3(2) of the Regulations states the following:
“The Mayor, the accounting officer or chairperson of the board of directors, as the case may be, must table an allegation referred to in subregulation (1) before the municipal council or, board of directors in the case of municipal entities not later than seven days after receipt thereof or at the next sitting of the council or board of directors,” reads the letter.
Makhanya says it’s time that the council is alerted about Mbhele’s matter.
“This letter is to be treated as a report in terms of regulation 3(1) of the Regulations and we expect it to be tabled at not later than 7 days from the date of this letter or at the next sitting of Council,” reads the letter from Makhanya’s legal team to Xaba.
Xaba’s spokesperson, Mluleki Mntungwa, did not respond when asked whether the mayor had received the letter.
