Police swoop on ADM's East London office

Amathole district municipality’s East London offices were raided by members of the police’s provincial anti-corruption task team on Monday as part of ongoing fraud and corruption investigations.

This was confirmed on Tuesday by provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Thembinkosi Kinana.

While no arrests were made, DispatchLIVE understands senior officials were questioned and documents seized.

“Even though I cannot reveal much about this at the moment, I can confirm that the province’s anti-corruption team is busy conducting some investigations in that municipality.

“That is all we are prepared to reveal, as revealing more might jeopardise our investigations into that municipality,” Kinana said.

The Dispatch asked ADM spokesperson Nonceba Madikizela-Vuso several questions about the search at the Chiselhurst building, including whose offices were searched.

Some comment was provided, which Madikizela-Vuso said should be attributed to ADM municipal manager Thandekile Mnyimba.

Mnyimba  confirmed the search, but said it was conducted by the Hawks.

Hawks spokesperson Captain Anelisa Ngcakani denied any knowledge of this on Tuesday, and referred the Dispatch to Kinana.

“There was no raid. The Hawks were acting on information received from a whistle-blower,” Mnyimba said.

“The Hawks secured a warrant for search and seizure based on the information received from the whistle-blower.”

Asked about how the municipality viewed the raid, Mnyimba said: “ADM supports the law enforcement agencies in their work to ensure clean governance.

“Any further details about this must be referred to the Hawks.”

The raid came weeks after the provincial co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) department spokesperson, Makhaya Komisa, confirmed that his department was also instituting a probe into ADM’s finances and alleged maladministration.

Komisa said on Tuesday that Cogta was appointing a service provider who would  be investigating alleged maladministration, issues of alleged fraud and corruption, and how tenders were being awarded in that council.

“There is a lot that is going to be investigated there as per the information provided by whistle-blowers which prompted the MEC [Xolile Nqatha] to sanction such investigation in the municipality,” Komisa said.

Sources at the municipality, who spoke to the Dispatch on condition of anonymity, said among the high-ranking ADM officials questioned by police on Monday was Mnyimba himself.

The raid came only a day before a memorial service for slain ADM whistle-blower and Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) leader Simphiwe Mdingi, 38.

Mdingi was gunned down in the driveway of his Amalinda, East London home on Thursday last week.

He was shot nine times, allegedly by a group of gunmen.

At Mdingi’s memorial service at the Calvary Christian Church in Quigney on Tuesday, more than a thousand mourners, including friends and family, paid tribute to their fallen comrade.  

Though the mood was sombre and emotional at times, it was also celebratory as friends and classmates  played music and read poetry.

“We have lost him and we were still looking forward to seeing great things in him.

“It was his dedication to fighting for the rights of workers that stood out,” one speaker said.

An Imatu member, identified only as Jack, said: “What a nice guy. What a leader. What a humble person.

“I don’t think the person who did this knew what he was doing.

“Wherever that person is, I am sure they regret what has happened.” 

Mdingi’s shooting came just four months after an attempted hit on his colleague Petros Ntamnani, ADM's acting supply chain manager, who was lucky to escape with his life when his vehicle was sprayed with 11 bullets near his Ginsberg, King William’s Town home.

No arrests have been made in either of these shootings.