Despite the somewhat smug statement by the City Treasurer that the city’s finances are in good shape, there are simply too many instances that would cast doubt upon this assertion. A glaring omission by top officials is the recent admission that the Banking Tender awarded to Standard Bank was accompanied by a lucrative sponsorship deal for uShaka Marine World, to the tune of R3.5 million. This gross irregularity, which is in conflict with the regulations imposed by the Municipal Finance and Management Act, is tantamount to city officials selling the tender in return for sponsorship. This was never declared by Shaun Thompson, head of uShaka, and conveniently did not feature in his recent media statement when he alluded to the Marine Park being used as a political pawn, and would account for his upbeat declaration that uShaka had turned the corner.

Perhaps the most worrying aspect of the whole sordid scenario, is that there has been complete collusion, blatant fraud and gross manipulation of tender procedures, suggesting that within our administration there is what can only be described as a “municipal mafia”, who with the knowledge of senior officials have been given carte blanche to ply their trade unfettered by normal and correct procedures.

The Democratic Alliance demands the immediate release of the Ngubane and Associates report, failing which we will invoke the Access to Information Act, as we continue to investigate and expose the rotten core of our municipality. If the findings result in the most senior city officials being held to account, then so be it.