By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
ActionSA Joburg Caucus has welcomed the move by the Office of the Speaker of Council to refer MMC for Economic Development, MMC Nomoya Mnisi, to the Ethics and Disciplinary Committee.
Mnisi is accused of trying to get the City to pay R867 482 for the event at the CedarWoods of Sandton in July.
The MMC ordered Sipho Mzobe, who quit as the acting CFO of the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC), to make the payment from JPC coffers.
Upon hearing the allegations, ActionSA opened a criminal case against the MMC and wrote to the speaker to have the issue put before the ethics committee.
It can lead to removal from office.
Mnisi is a member of the mayoral committee in Johannesburg and also an ANC Youth League national executive committee member, where she is responsible for fundraising.
Mzobe’s disclosure says he refused the instruction and said his treatment by Mnisi had traumatised him. “I am not sure what wrong I have done to the MMC, except to refuse to deal with an invoice… addressed to Cllr (councillor) Mnisi. I did not pay such an invoice as it did not relate to JPC operations. This aggravated issues with the MMC more determined that I be removed from finance,” read Mzobe’s protected disclosure.
Mzobe is a member of the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu), which has waived the right to confidentiality in the public interest.
Mnisi has since denied giving CFO any instructions to make payment for the ANC Youth League conference. It was a shock and surprise [to see the allegations].
Mzobe has subsequently stepped back into his former role as a financial manager at the JPC.
In a statement, ActionSA said, “This is victory for the rule of law; we regard this as a positive step in the right direction. We hope that this is not done as a box-ticking exercise.”
“ActionSA Joburg Caucus will closely monitor the developments of this critical process.”
Most of Johannesburg’s R80-billion budget is spent through municipal entities such as the JPC, making them a prime target for political interference and rent extraction.
Johannesburg has had five mayors since the 2021 election and is the most unstable of Gauteng’s metropolitan coalition governments.