They destroyed my career, says former MM

“They destroyed my career and ruined my reputation,” said former municipal manager Sakkie Mutshinyali last week, “and it cost the tax payer over R3,3 million”.

In an exclusive interview with the Limpopo Mirror last week, Mutshinyali talked about his years of serving as the region’s top administrative officer. His term started shortly after a new mayor, David Mutavhatsindi, came into office in 2012. Mutshinyali’s appointment formed part of the new mayor’s strategy to clean up the municipality and put good administrative systems in place.

Unfortunately for Mutshinyali, he fell victim to the same system that saw him put in charge. When a new mayor came into office in 2016, he was given the boot, in the most unpleasant of circumstances. “It was an example of ruthless politics, and my reputation was destroyed by the same party that I had fought for as an activist until today,” said Mutshinyali.

Mutshinyali became the fourth municipal manager to part ways with the Makhado Municipality in such a manner. Prior to his appointment and departure, Reuben Rambado, Faith Muthambi and then Shadrack Tshikalange were first blamed for mismanagement and corruption, then suspended by the municipality and finally given a settlement agreement.

“When a new mayor arrives, he or she wants to bring in a new team. This means that the old team has to go,” said Mutshinyali. Unfortunately, the process often has scant regard for the reputation of the administrators involved.

The right man for the job

When Sakkie Mutshinyali was appointed as municipal manager in September 2012, he faced a mountain of challenges. “He is the right man for this municipality,” said the former acting municipal manager, Mr Elias Mugari. The mayor, David Mutavhatsindi, agreed and said that he was “a pure administrator who has successfully instilled a new culture in the working force. A culture of workers arriving early at work and leaving late. A culture of quick response when communities need service”.

Mutshinyali surely had the credentials. After completing his teacher's degree at Turfloop, he turned to local government administration. He finished a diploma course in municipal administration at the then Rand Afrikaans University and followed it up with a master’s degree at Turfloop. For him, however, theory needed to be put in practice and he became involved in politics from an early age.

In 1996, not long after the country’s first democratic elections had taken place, Mutshinyali was elected as councillor to serve in the newly formed Makhado Municipality. He served with local political stalwarts such as Brink Schlesinger and Louis Holtzhausen. He was deputy chairman of the executive committee, who was being led by well-known businessman Solly Noor at that stage. During this period, he was also secretary of the provincial Housing Board.

In 2000, he took up a post in the Department of Local Government as manager for municipal administration. This kept him busy until 2004, when he was appointed as municipal manager for the Greater Letaba Municipality. “The Greater Letaba Municipality was bankrupt at that stage and without any financial systems running. After four years they had a clean audit,” said Mutshinyali.

Mutshinyali stayed at Letaba for eight years. “There was a consistency of mayors and political cliques were better managed,” he explains. When his contract eventually expired in 2012, he applied for the position in Louis Trichardt.

When he was appointed, Mutshinyali was very positive about the prospects of his new job. “If given the support, we can turn around and re-engineer this municipality, maybe even in a shorter period of time (than Letaba),” Mutshinyali had told a reporter at that stage.

Eight months later, in 2013, Makhado Municipality received a qualified report from the Auditor-General. This was already a huge improvement, as a qualified report means that only certain (smaller) issues remain that need to be addressed. In 2014, the municipality received an unqualified report, the first since 2000. The municipality also managed to spend its municipal infrastructure grant (MIG), meaning that money earmarked for infrastructure development did not revert to National Treasury. In 2015, a qualified report was received. “Even National Treasury was praising the manner in which we conducted our business,” said Mutshinyali.

Mutshinyali’s approach also meant that action was taken against people making themselves guilty of fraud. “Tender irregularities were exposed, and those who stole municipal funds were suspended and taken for disciplinary processes without favour,” he said. He was a very “hands-on” manager and invited members of the public to phone him directly and tell him about the problems they experienced. “It was not just a case of going to the office and signing documents,” he said.

Stepping on the wrong toes?

Within a month after a new mayor, Mildred Sinyosi, was elected in 2016, things started turning sour. She tabled a report containing allegations of misconduct against Mutshinyali, and he was placed on “special leave”. A company was appointed to investigate the allegations.

Mutshinyali said it took the company three months to finish the investigation, at a cost of around R300 000. “They reported back that they could find nothing wrong,” said Mutshinyali. This, however, did not convince the new leaders and in January 2017, a disciplinary tribunal was appointed. The council hired three lawyers and the costs simply escalated.

“I had to fight to clear my name. The sad part is that a mere discussion would have sufficed. All that they needed to do was to tell me that they don’t want me, because I was said to be closer to the former mayor. What is it that I should have done; fought with him for others’ battles? No, my job was to manage the municipality and not fight the mayor. There was no need to make defamatory allegations,” said Mutshinyali.

For the next five months, Mutshinyali waited at home for the process to move in some direction. The council denied that he had been suspended, stating that he was merely put on “special leave” to allow them time to investigate the allegations.

On 31 May 2017, during a special meeting, the council resolved to withdraw all charges against Mutshinyali but to part ways with their municipal manager. Even though the council allowed Mutshinyali to go back to his office and complete his contract, he knew that his contract would expire in a few months’ time, leaving him little option other than to accept the offer of almost R1,4 million. “In the end, it cost the council R3,3 million to get rid of me,” said Mutshinyali.

An unnecessary and destructive battle?

Mutshinyali admitted that the practice where political leaders bring in “their own” people was nothing new. It happened even before 1994 in the then Louis Trichardt Town Council. When the Conservative Party took control of the council after the 1999 elections, a new town clerk was appointed with strong CP ties. “But during those days they did not wash their laundry in the open,” said Mutshinyali.

The dirty politics has, however, left its mark on Mutshinyali. “It created a cloud of suspicion which still surrounds me. Even today, if I apply for a position, these rumours work against me,” he said. He has applied for numerous positions in the past year, but every time it is as if he has to defend his reputation. “They acted irresponsibly and ruined my career,” he said.

Mutshinyali reckoned the problems in local government could be ascribed to a lack of continuity. The forming of political cliques undermines good governance. He names Thulamela Municipality as an example where the executive mayor has been in office for 10 years. “For Makhado to grow, whoever the mayor is should serve longer, unless he or she faces serious charges of financial misconduct,” he said. He also thinks mayors should be held personally responsible for misleading the council and spending municipal funds fruitlessly. “Political heads get away with a lot,” he said.

As for the future, Mutshinyali is focusing on property development. “Circumstances forced me to break away from local government,” he said. He regards this as unfortunate, because he feels he still has a lot to offer to improve the lives of all through proper governance of municipalities.

Date:24 March 2018

By: Anton van Zyl

Anton van Zyl has been with the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror since 1990. He graduated from the Rand Afrikaans University (now University of Johannesburg) and obtained a BA Communications degree. He is a founder member of the Association of Independent Publishers.

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