The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) says its investigations into contracts in the Buffalo City Metro and OR Tambo District Municipality have been hampered by persistent non-co-operation from senior municipal officials.
Appearing before parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) on Tuesday, the SIU’s acting Eastern Cape head, Mike Koya, said investigators had struggled to secure meetings and obtain crucial documents.
Scopa visited both municipalities early in 2025.
In BCM, the SIU is seeking to investigate the R70m Mdantsane swimming pool project.
The pool complex remains unusable despite the vast amounts of money spent on it.
Koya told MPs the unit had repeatedly requested the EY (previously Ernst & Young) forensic report on the project but had yet to receive it.
“On May 5 2025, the SIU wrote to BCM to request the report and was informed that the report is in draft [form] and will be shared once finalised.
“On October 14 2025, the SIU wrote another letter requesting the report.
“This was after mayor [Princess Faku] had stated at a Cogta portfolio committee meeting in Wild Coast that the report had been handed over …
“The SIU never received a response to this letter and the report has to date not been handed over,” Koya said.
He said the report was required to motivate for a presidential proclamation authorising a full investigation into the pool complex project.
The SIU has also cited delays in it being provided with documentation relating to water-tankering contracts.
“The municipal manager’s office, through a PA, acknowledged receipt of our letter … but to date, nothing was provided.
“Numerous follow-ups were made, but we have been met with no co-operation.”
He said the unit had sought to probe other BCM tenders, “but we never received documents relating to [the] Dam-Fin fencing project, Kayser’s Beach and Ncerha water tankers, thus we could not continue”.
A proclamation application relating to a planned investigation into the Leighandre “Baby Lee” Jegels Recreational Park project is now with the justice department.
The SIU is also planning to investigate the Water World Fun Park project.
The unit has completed its probe into a R21m BCM temporary housing project, which implicated six municipal officials in alleged irregularities relating to the provision of more than 330 houses during the Covid-19 pandemic.
After scrutinising the findings of the SIU report, the metro’s financial misconduct disciplinary board recommended in January that disciplinary proceedings be instituted against the implicated officials.
However, before any action could be taken, the officials asked the high court to review the SIU report and halt the planned disciplinary proceedings.
Koya said the city had since appointed a legal firm to further investigate the allegations and pursue charges against implicated officials.
However, the process had been interdicted by two of the implicated officials.
“The process is therefore on hold,” Koya said.
The municipality considers this allegation inaccurate and regrettable
— Bongani Fuzile, BCM spokesperson
BCM spokesperson Bongani Fuzile denied that the metro had failed to co-operate with the SIU.
“The municipality considers this allegation inaccurate and regrettable,” he said.
“The city manager formally advised the SIU that EY … indicated that the report may not be disseminated to third parties without its prior written consent …
“The municipality is therefore legally constrained from unilaterally releasing the report.”
Fuzile said that “acting in good faith and in the interests of transparency and accountability, the municipality formally requested EY’s written permission to distribute the report to both the SIU and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks). To date, no response has been received.”
In the OR Tambo district, the SIU investigated a contract for the provision of strategic, technical and operational support services to the municipality and payments amounting to more than R54m to a service provider.
The unit’s investigation resulted in 11 disciplinary referrals being made against implicated municipal officials and 14 criminal referrals.
The SIU is also planning to refer the matter to the Special Tribunal, in a bid to recover R54.1m.
“The SIU is currently conducting financial analysis to track [the] assets of persons of interest,” Koya said.
“The SIU attempted to meet the MM [municipal manager Basil Mase] to discuss the referrals, but without success.”
The unit also investigated a number of bulk water projects across the district but noted a “lack of co-operation and support from municipal officials”.
Koya said: “[The] municipal manager is not available to discuss the findings and has not been responsive to our requests to meet.”
In another matter brought to the unit’s attention, Koya said the SIU sent a request for information to Mase on November 19.
“He acknowledged over the phone, provided his email address and promised to provide written acknowledgement.
“But to date, he never did, even though he has read the email with our letter, because the read receipt indicated he has opened it.
“Numerous follow-ups were made, but no co-operation was received.
“To-date, the MM has avoided us, and the information has not been provided,” the SIU said.
In February 2025, Koya said, the SIU requested the intervention of the Eastern Cape department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta).
“It seems they also are struggling with OR Tambo officials,” Koya said.
OR Tambo spokesperson Ncebakazi Kolwane rejected the allegations.
“The municipality … has consistently co-operated with lawful investigative processes.
“Where requests for documentation or engagements are received, these are processed through established administrative and legal protocols …
“In some instances, co-ordination processes, verification of records or scheduling constraints may affect timelines, however, this should not be interpreted as a refusal to co-operate,” she said.
“The municipal manager and the institution remain available to engage constructively with the SIU.”
There is no legislation that empowers Cogta and the SIU to compel the municipality to co-operate promptly with the investigation
— Pheello Oliphant, co-operative governance spokesperson
Co-operative governance spokesperson Pheello Oliphant said: “Non-co-operation and employing the Stalingrad approach compromises the work of the SIU.
“The SIU did write to Cogta last year complaining about the resistance and non-co-operation of the OR Tambo district.
“Cogta wrote a letter … asking them to co-operate with the SIU.
“There is no legislation that empowers Cogta and the SIU to compel the municipality to co-operate promptly with the investigation,” Oliphant said.
“To this end, the SIU will have to … escalate the matter to the MEC, then the premier, and to the Cogta minister, and the president."
Daily Dispatch
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