The King Mhlontlo Local Municipality has dismissed its embattled Chief Financial Officer, Nandipha Sibobi, for gross dishonesty and violating Section 2 of her employment contract after her suspension by the municipality in April.
Mthatha Express reported on April 17 that the council had resolved during its meeting on April 1 to suspend Sibobi after she reinstated a mobile phone contract with a service provider following the expiry of its initial contract.
This was done despite a new contract already being entered into by the municipality with a different service provider. Responding to questions from Mthatha Express, municipal spokesperson, Mamela Mangcotywa, confirmed that Sibobi was dismissed following an independent disciplinary process.
“[You are dismissed for] gross dishonesty and violation of Section 2 of your employment contract, in that you misled and/or caused the accounting officer to believe that the appointment of a service provider for VAT collection services would assist the municipality in resolving some of its service delivery challenges as it would generate a substantial amount of money. Based on your advice, a tender was advertised and a service provider appointed,” Mangcotywa said.
She added that the second of the four charges against Sibobi involved non-compliance with the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) Circular 74.
“[You] caused an irregular procurement process by advising on the appointment of the service provider for VAT collection, contrary to the clear provisions of Circular 74 of the MFMA, which prohibits such conduct,” she said.
In the third charge, Sibobi was found guilty of causing the municipality to incur, or be subjected to, potential avoidable wasteful and fruitless expenditure amounting to R3.4 million by the end of the “unlawful contract.”
At the time of her suspension, Sibobi also faced a charge of contradicting the stipulations of the MFMA.
“[You] usurped the accounting officer’s powers to appoint a service provider by appointing Vodacom, while the municipality had already appointed MTN to provide the same services to the municipality’s councillors. This caused the municipality to pay two service providers for the same services, resulting in fruitless and wasteful expenditure,” Mangcotywa explained.
