Former King Sabata Dalindyebo mayor Nyaniso Nelani and municipal manager Ngamela Pakade have petitioned prosecutors to withdraw fraud charges against them arising from Nelani’s municipality-funded trip to an ANC rally in Durban.
In another twist on Monday, the UDM attempted to report criminal complaints against KSD council speaker Nomamfengu Siyo-Sokutu and chief whip Bongani Mlanjeni, alleging they were also implicated in the scandal that has already landed five people in court.
Nelani, 63, Pakade, 55, former chief financial officer Fudumele Jiholo, 63, Nelani’s former personal assistant Sibongile Moyi, 49, and Cwenga Songelwa, 41, a former PA to deputy minister Zoleka Capa, appeared in the Mthatha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on charges of fraud and contravening the Municipal Finance Management Act.
The court heard that Nelani and Pakade had submitted representations to acting director of public prosecutions advocate Samkelo Mtwana, asking that the charges against them be withdrawn.
The matter was postponed to August 24 pending the acting director’s decision.
NPA regional spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said: “They have made representations. We will issue a statement when the matter is finalised.”
The five accused were served with summonses in June after the Hawks concluded their initial investigation into the municipality’s funding of Nelani’s trip to KwaZulu-Natal in January 2024.
Nelani, who initially requested that he be placed on special leave, resigned as KSD mayor in early July. Pakade continues to serve as municipal manager.
Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana previously said the accused had allegedly falsely claimed that Nelani had received an official invitation to attend a government back-to-school programme to justify the municipality-funded trip.
“The investigation further alleges that an invitation letter was solicited despite the knowledge that no government-sponsored back-to-school programme existed.”
He said investigators alleged the event was in fact an ANC manifesto rally and not an official government programme.
“It is further alleged that, following a telephonic request, an invitation letter bearing what is suspected to be the forged signature of the deputy minister was generated and transmitted.
“The letter was allegedly used to create the false impression that the mayor’s attendance constituted official municipal business.”
Believing the invitation was genuine, the municipality allegedly paid more than R57,000 for Nelani’s travel and accommodation, suffering financial prejudice as a result.
The case had previously been postponed to enable the state to disclose the contents of the docket to the defence and one of the accused to secure legal representation.
The UDM reported the original criminal complaint after alleging that Nelani and his entourage had improperly used municipal funds to attend the ANC’s manifesto launch.
After Monday’s court proceedings, UDM councillors went to the Mthatha Central police station to lay a complaint against Siyo-Sokutu and Mlanjeni.
Police, however, indicated that a case had already been opened and referred them to the head of detectives at Mthatha’s PRD Building.
UDM chief whip Raymond Knock said the party believed both office-bearers should also face a criminal investigation “because they are [allegedly] implicated”.
“We are also looking at bringing charges against other officials, including the chief operations officer who is also [allegedly] one of the signatories for the 2024 trip using municipal funds.
“We are also looking at a councillor who was implicated initially but has not been charged, yet the internal investigation proved she was [allegedly] part of the entourage.”
Knock also accused Siyo-Sokutu of frustrating council processes by failing to convene a meeting at which a rules and ethics committee report into the Durban trip was due to be tabled.
Mlanjeni’s attorneys wrote to the speaker in July, arguing that the investigation was procedurally flawed and violated his client’s right to be heard.
The lawyers said the investigation stemmed from a motion submitted by Knock on June 20 2024, after the council established an ad hoc committee to investigate councillors who had travelled to Durban using municipal resources.
They argued that Mlanjeni had not been afforded an opportunity to present his version.
Attempts to obtain comment from Mlanjeni were unsuccessful on Monday and he did not respond to a text message.
Siyo-Sokutu’s phone went straight to voicemail, and she also failed to respond to a text message.
Knock said the UDM understood the reasons for the postponements in the criminal case but hoped the matter would finally proceed on August 24.
He accused Siyo-Sokutu of unilaterally postponing last month’s council meeting instead of allowing councillors to decide how to deal with the legal objections raised by Mlanjeni’s lawyers.
Knock said the UDM had written to the speaker three times and had also submitted a petition signed by a majority of councillors requesting that the meeting be convened so the ethics committee report could be considered.
“We have tried many things and now we are going a different route, which is the legal route, because we cannot allow such issues to go unabated,” he said.
“That R57,000 is as good as stolen from the people who are struggling to pay rates. We have people whose electricity is being cut off daily.
“They are struggling, yet we have leaders who have no problem spending money meant to help the people they serve.
“Everyone who is implicated must face the music.”
Daily Dispatch
