Durban - It’s business as usual for eThekwini’s deputy head of supply chain management Zandile Sithole, who returned to work in March following her 18-month suspension for alleged graft. Meanwhile, the 13 companies that were supposed to be blacklisted from doing any further work with the city, because they were implicated along with Sithole, continue to receive contracts and payments.
Other officials within the municipality were also implicated in a chain of irregularities, including the forging of signatures, tampering with documents, authoring bogus reports, suppressing information and manipulating procedures.
A letter from Sars, issued in June 2016, warned the municipality that it was unlawful to continue awarding contracts to Zikhulise as it was a tax delinquent. According to documents seen by the Sunday Tribune, the company has continued receiving payments up until last month. There is apparently evidence that payments to these companies had been deleted from the city’s books in order to deceive auditors.