3 years ago
1
ARTICLE AD BOX
Umar Banda will be in court on Tuesday with an urgent application to get his job back. Photo: Seugnet Van Zyl/ Rapport
The Tshwane metro was so upset by the news that there was apparently a qualified audit in the pipeline that it immediately got rid of its chief financial officer.
Umar Banda will be in the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday with an urgent application to get his job back.
He says in court documents that, on November 24, the Tshwane metro approved the extension of his contract by three months until the end of March.
But, Banda says, six days later, he received a letter from the municipal manager, suspending him for allegedly misleading the city into believing its financial statements submitted to the Auditor-General would be compliant with the law.
READ: We’ve fired all our presidents, there’s no guarantee this one won’t be fired as well - Godongwana
This suspension letter was withdrawn the next day and replaced with a letter of dismissal.
The court documents do not provide further details of Tshwane’s audit outcomes for 2021/22. This will only become known next month, when the municipality’s audited statements are published.
In the past year, the metro has continuously struggled with a severe cash shortage and Eskom even threatened to cut off the city’s power due to late payment.
The mayoral committee member for finance, Peter Sutton, said earlier that it could take up to three years to get the financial affairs in order.
READ: Outrage as half-naked patients filmed sleeping on the floors at Tembisa Hospital
Banda says he has been in this position since 2017 and was not afforded a disciplinary hearing or given the opportunity to make submissions before he was suspended.
The dismissal has far-reaching consequences, says Banda.
The names of municipal staff who are fired on the basis of financial misconduct are placed on a blacklist, meaning they cannot work for any municipality again for the next 10 years.
Tshwane’s response is that that is an academic question. Although they seem to admit in court documents that the dismissal was unlawful, Tshwane says Banda’s contract expires on December 31 anyway and he will be paid until then, even if he does not report for duty.
Ronald Oppelt, regional director for labour relations, says in an affidavit that the council decision to extend Banda’s contract from January 1 to March 31 was never implemented. The council merely authorised the municipal manager to extend the contract by three months.
READ: Magashule also disqualified from standing for ANC top position, while Yengeni wins appeal
However, after he got the news about the audit, they decided not to extend the contract.
He says the further extension would also have been illegal. According to Banda, he had a legitimate expectation that his contract would once more be extended.
The Tshwane metro has already advertised for a permanent chief financial officer and Banda intends to apply again.
Ratings Africa analyst Leon Claassen says that, if the metro council’s statements do not meet the legal requirements – as Banda’s suspension letter shows – this indicates that the Auditor-General will qualify the metro’s statements.
However, the level of qualification is not known yet. It could either only be qualified, or the Auditor-General could give an adverse opinion.
The third, and worst, outcome could be a disclaimer if the statements are so incomplete that it is impossible to form an opinion on their accuracy.
English (US)