- Former Johannesburg Mayor, Herman Mashaba, is to challenge Public Protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane's report.
- This comes after the Public Protector made adverse findings of "irregular and unlawful conduct" against him.
- The current administration at the COJ has welcomed the report.
Former Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg (COJ) Herman Mashaba has said he will be challenging Public Protector (PP) Busisiwe Mkhwebane's report that made adverse findings against him of "irregular and unlawful conduct".
"On advice of legal counsel, I will not address any of the matters contained in the report as these matters have been sufficiently refuted in the past," Mashaba said in a statement on Monday.
"Our focus now proceeds to initiating a full High Court legal review of the Public Protector's report and to seek a cost order against the Public Protector or her office in this matter."
This comes after Mkhwebane in a briefing on Monday released 14 reports, in which she made adverse findings in nine of them.
This included Report No. 21 of 2020/21 which investigated allegations of maladministration relating to irregular appointments, irregular salary increases, financial mismanagement, procurement irregularities, and conflict of interests in the City of Johannesburg.
The investigation stemmed from an anonymous complaint lodged with the PP's office on 8 March 2018.
In the report, the PP made several findings including:
- Mashaba unlawfully and irregularly entered the procurement space and solicited free services from Lephatsi Financial Services and such amounted to a conflict of interest; and- Mashaba allegedly interfered, or influenced the City, to use funding allocation of a youth drug rehabilitation and support programme to fund Field Band Foundation (FBF) which is a non-governmental organisation (NGO).
Report is "disappointing" - Mashaba
The former mayor has described the report on his tenure at the COJ as disappointing.
"I have maintained my intention to challenge this report after it was clear that our evidence was being overlooked or ignored and when the draft report was leaked.
"I am a strong believer that political leaders must clear their names in the courts of our country, in full scrutiny of the media and the people of South Africa."
Meanwhile, the current administration has welcomed the findings following her investigation into several complaints raised against the City and its previous executive mayor.
"The findings by the Public Protector are welcome and begin to complete the picture of how the City during the previous administration witnessed a peak in irregular expenditure reaching an all-time high of R 2.4 billion. Lack of consequence management and impunity were the order of business.
"We have always maintained that the rhetoric and PR of the former Mayor were not in sync with the reality and objective facts on the City’s performance and stability. This is also backed by the reports of the Auditor-General," Current Mayor Geoff Makhubo said in a statement on Monday.
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