Hawks take the fight against corruption to the municipal level

Several recent arrests of municipal managers in Mpumalanga, as well as one each in Limpopo and the Free State, indicate that the Hawks’ anti-corruption campaign is spreading to the local level.

The Hawks announced in August that it was investigating 22 000 cases worth R1.5 trillion.

While the majority of these are high-profile, regional branches of the Hawks are investigating smaller cases of corruption that would otherwise go unnoticed.

On October 28, the Serious Commercial Crime Investigation (SCCI) unit in Nelspruit arrested former Nkomazi municipal manager Muzi Daniel Ngwenya for fraud, theft, and violating the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).

He is accused of using municipal funds to buy an R900,000 Mercedes-Benz from a dealership in Bedfordview, Johannesburg.

According to a statement issued by the Hawks in Mpumalanga, he registered the vehicle in his name.

According to City Press, Ngwenya, who claims his arrest is political, was previously visited by the Hawks for allegedly spending R27 million in municipal funds on Covid-related issues without following procurement processes.

On October 28, Ngwenya appeared in the Tonga Magistrates’ Court and was granted R10,000 bail. The case has been rescheduled for January 25, 2023, for further investigation.

Another one…

In Mpumalanga, Nelson Kubheka, the former municipal manager of Dr. JS Moroka Local Municipality, appeared in Siyabuswa Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday this week, after being arrested by the Middelburg-based SCCI for fraud, theft, and MFMA contravention.

According to a Hawks statement, Kubheka is accused of approving the appointment of service providers at the municipality despite the fact that the bid adjudication committee declared the appointment irregular “because it did not comply with supply chain management policy and the Constitution.”

“It is alleged that when appointments were approved, the accused referred to a non-existent meeting, and further utilised the security services of the municipality for his own benefit.”

Kubheka was released on R10,000 bail and summoned to the Middelburg Commercial Crime Court in February of the following year.

From financial crime to kidnapping, there is something for everyone.

A more disturbing case is that of Nkangala District Municipal Manager Margaret Skosana and her driver Gugu Mtsweni, who were kidnapped in October at the Nkangala municipality gate and driven to Diepsloot in Gauteng, where they were held for a week before being released on the N14.

What was thought to be a random criminal act may have had a more sinister motive, as Skosana’s laptop was stolen in August, raising suspicions that she was targeted because of her work at the municipality.

The kidnappers pretended to be police officers and informed Skosana, who is wheelchair-bound, that she was being arrested. When she refused to move, one of the kidnappers threatened her with a rifle and demanded that she get into their car.

They later demanded her bank cards and PINs, but it is suspected that the true motivation was work-related. Since then, the municipality’s security has been tightened.

The list goes on…

Theron Zwelishe Shongwe and Thusi Hezekiel Kubheka, both formerly municipal managers at Msukaligwa Local Municipality, were arrested by the Hawks in August for allegedly selling municipal property, adding to the growing list of Mpumalanga officials accused of corruption.

“It is alleged that between 2014 and 2018, the former municipality officials contravened the PFMA [Public Finance Management Act] by selling and exchanging the property belonging to the municipality which included the reservoir and the water pump which are meant to serve the basic needs of the community,” said Hawks spokesperson Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi according to the SA Government News Agency.

According to the 13 indicators used by National Treasury, the number of municipalities in financial distress has increased from 86 in 2013/14 to 175 in 2019/20 – and 123 municipalities passed unfunded budgets, according to National Treasury’s 2022 Budget Review.

Despite an increase in revenue, this financial distress suggests that “high costs of key inputs or poor spending management” are to blame, according to the review.

While much of the anti-corruption focus has been on public-sector actors and their private-sector partners, the most recent arrests indicate that law enforcement is taking the fight to the municipal level with vigour.