Following months of speculation and adverse reports, councillors of Thulamela Municipality have opted to suspend the municipal manager (MM), Mr Masala Makumule. The decision was taken during a chaotic council meeting last Wednesday.
During a previous council meeting, Makumule was asked to provide reasons why he should not be suspended. The municipal manager has come under scrutiny over the past year for, among other things, his perceived failure to curb unauthorised expenditure and implement strict procurement policies.
Last Wednesday, councillors were hastily called to yet another special council meeting. The proceedings took a dramatic turn when councillors were informed that the MM had finally responded to their request.
When the mayor, Cllr Athongozwidivha Sarah Rambuda, stood up to address the council, it emerged that the MM had responded to her in person, rather than to the full council. This sparked a heated debate, with some councillors suspecting there were ulterior motives behind the move. After the contents of the letter were discussed, it was eventually agreed that the MM should be suspended.
The council has made no official announcement regarding the matter, and no formal reasons for the suspension have been provided. The municipality's spokesperson, Mr Ndwamato Tshiila, confirmed that Makumule had been suspended with full pay and benefits. "There is nothing more to share as the matter is under investigation," he said.
Asked for comment, Makumule confirmed that he had been suspended but said he was completely in the dark about the charges against him. "I can tell you that I am not satisfied with the way things are being done at the municipality. Firstly, I do not even have a copy of the report that led to my suspension. I am innocent and not hiding anything. I doubt very much if the report is genuine, and I am left with no option but to seek for a review of the said report," he said.
The report Makumule referred to is believed to be one compiled by audit firm Deloitte & Touche, which appears to deal with allegations of fraud, corruption, and maladministration involving some members of the municipality's senior management, including the MM.
Makumule has endured a difficult three years since taking over from former municipal manager Mr Hlengani Maluleke. Maluleke became the scapegoat for Thulamela Municipality's illegal investment in the fraud-ridden VBS Mutual Bank. After serving in an acting capacity from February 2022, Makumule was appointed permanently in October of that year.
The hot seat at Thulamela Municipality has proved to be far from desirable. In the latest report by the auditor-general (AG), the municipality came under heavy criticism. Not only has Thulamela regressed to receiving a qualified AG opinion, but it has also been slammed for illegally awarding tenders and failing to complete numerous capital projects. To make matters worse, the AG noted that there appear to be no consequences for these repeated failures to comply with the law.
In September last year, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) raided the Thulamela Municipality's offices as part of a probe into alleged fraud and corruption. During the operation, devices were seized and some senior employees, including the municipal manager, were briefly detained. The devices were later returned, and no arrests were made.
Opposition parties have welcomed the decision to suspend the MM. The Democratic Alliance's Thelma Marole said they felt vindicated, now that action had finally been taken.
"We first of all did not support the MM's appointment as we heard he left Vhembe District in a huff and had a dark cloud over his head, but as we are in the minority, we did not get a hearing, and they forced through his appointment. We even confronted the mayor when details of corruption on tenders started doing the rounds on social media, but still our concerns were ignored," she said.
Cllr Khakhathi Tshisikule of the International Revelation Congress (IRC) said they were not yet taking sides but expressed concern over the mayor's conduct.
"We agreed as council to write a letter of our intention to suspend the MM, following the damning Hawks report. On Wednesday, the mayor surprised us by reading a letter addressed to her as a response from the MM. We tried and advised her not to read it as it was not addressed to council, but she continued. We are very suspicious of her behaviour that, even after being advised to return the letter to the MM for proper address, she hurriedly read it. We are not pointing fingers as the matter is now in the hands of a private investigator," he said.