Buffalo City Metro’s mayor Zukiswa Ncitha is accused of abusing her position after she wrote to the chief financial officer (CFO) asking him to consider exempting a cousin from paying rates.
“There are channels already in place that she is well aware of when a person is an indigent. It looks like she circumvented the process to try and get a particular outcome.
“It does not make any sense to me why the person did not use the regular .”
The metro has a draft rates policy (2014-15) which states clearly that applications “for exemptions, reductions and rebates will only be considered after an application on the prescribed form has been lodged with the CFO”.
In her memo, Ncitha asked Pillay to assist in filling in the documents.
“Any necessary forms to be filled, permission is given to to fill in and sign such forms … For any further details, do not hesitate to contact the author,” and she provided her contact details.
Ncitha’s spokesman Sibusiso Cindi defended his boss’s actions saying: “This is not abuse of power. Whether the mayor is writing on the piece of paper with or without the letterhead she remains the executive mayor.
“They were not ordered, but requested to follow proper procedures in handling this matter.”
Cindi said the required documents had been submitted to the relevant office.
The Dispatch can further reveal that although most cases have had to wait months before being finalised as investigators carry out site visits to verify the information in the application forms, the file for Ncitha’s cousin contains a note which states that the case must be finalised within three weeks.
Cindi said Ncitha was in no position to comment on such operational issues.
“The executive mayor won’t be able to comment about operations and the actual internal operational processes.”
BCM spokesman Keith Ngesi said he was out of town.
Weyer said: “This is definitely not the standard way of doing things especially as a mayor.
“It’s not right, specially now that she has so much hanging over her head with other fraud irregularities with the Mandela funeral saga.”
Pan Africanist Congress leader in council Jerome Mdyolo and ANC chief whip Sangweni Matwele could not be reached for comment at the time of writing yesterday. — zineg@dispatch.co.za
Mayor asks city to cut cousin's bill
“There are channels already in place that she is well aware of when a person is an indigent. It looks like she circumvented the process to try and get a particular outcome.
“It does not make any sense to me why the person did not use the regular .”
The metro has a draft rates policy (2014-15) which states clearly that applications “for exemptions, reductions and rebates will only be considered after an application on the prescribed form has been lodged with the CFO”.
In her memo, Ncitha asked Pillay to assist in filling in the documents.
“Any necessary forms to be filled, permission is given to to fill in and sign such forms … For any further details, do not hesitate to contact the author,” and she provided her contact details.
Ncitha’s spokesman Sibusiso Cindi defended his boss’s actions saying: “This is not abuse of power. Whether the mayor is writing on the piece of paper with or without the letterhead she remains the executive mayor.
“They were not ordered, but requested to follow proper procedures in handling this matter.”
Cindi said the required documents had been submitted to the relevant office.
The Dispatch can further reveal that although most cases have had to wait months before being finalised as investigators carry out site visits to verify the information in the application forms, the file for Ncitha’s cousin contains a note which states that the case must be finalised within three weeks.
Cindi said Ncitha was in no position to comment on such operational issues.
“The executive mayor won’t be able to comment about operations and the actual internal operational processes.”
BCM spokesman Keith Ngesi said he was out of town.
Weyer said: “This is definitely not the standard way of doing things especially as a mayor.
“It’s not right, specially now that she has so much hanging over her head with other fraud irregularities with the Mandela funeral saga.”
Pan Africanist Congress leader in council Jerome Mdyolo and ANC chief whip Sangweni Matwele could not be reached for comment at the time of writing yesterday. — zineg@dispatch.co.za
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