eThekwini municipal manager Musa Mbhele’s appointment is being challenged. Picture: Supplied
In a fresh bid to have the appointment of eThekwini municipal manager Musa Mbhele set aside, the leader of the Municipal and Allied Trade Union of South Africa (Matusa), Joseph Mabaso, has filed a new application in Pietermaritzburg High Court in his own capacity as an employee of the municipality.
Mabaso initially filed the same application for the union, however, it later distanced itself from the application.
Last week, Mabaso revived the case in his personal capacity. He is challenging the composition of the panel that interviewed Mbhele and subsequently recommended his appointment, and wants the court to set aside both its appointment and Mbhele’s appointment.
In his court papers, Mabaso argued that the panel was illegally constituted, therefore, the appointment of the municipal manager was not valid.
“As an employee of the first respondent (eThekwini Municipality), I have an interest in whether or not the most senior person in the first respondent has been lawfully appointed. This requirement goes further in that we are dealing with public funds in the third biggest metro in South Africa which according to the National Treasury report 2022/2023 received R64 billion of public funds.
“It goes without saying that the person who is the accounting authority of such an enormous budget must be properly appointed, and as an employee, citizen of this country, and a ratepayer in eThekwini, I am entitled to hold the executives of the state to account if it can be shown that there was non-compliance in their appointment,” read Mabaso’s affidavit.
In violation of Regulation 12(3) of the Appointment and Conditions of Employment of Senior Managers, which stipulates that the panel must consist of three members — the mayor or his designee, a council member, and a municipality employee who is not a council member — Mabaso claimed that the panel was illegally formed because it had five members.
The deputy mayor Philani Mavundla, DA councillor Thabani Mthethwa, EFF councillor Thabani Miya, ANC councillor Zama Sokhabase, and Dr Thaneka Ellenson, the CEO of the Moses Kotane Institute, were on the panel that suggested Mbhele’s selection.
It is not clear why the city allowed more than one councillor to sit on the panel. Mbhele was appointed in October 2022.
The municipality spokesperson Gugu Sisilana refused to discuss the matter, saying it was sub judice.
The municipality does not litigate through the media,” said Sisilana.
Willem.phungula@inl.co.za