Acting Makana municipal manager Busi Khumalo has received the backing of the council to launch a full forensic investigation against employees involved in financial misconduct.
Acting Makana municipal manager Busi Khumalo has received the backing of the council to launch a full forensic investigation against employees involved in financial misconduct.
At yesterday's Council meeting, Khumalo tabled a three-page report implicating municipal staff members in suspicious activities.
This followed last month's preliminary investigation by Khumalo that uncovered the abuse of city finances by some municipal staff members.
The findings of the preliminary investigations revealed that two junior staff members in the Finance Department had committed fraud.
The finance officials were also receiving overtime almost monthly, without approval.
The report also revealed that some staff members were paid more than 65% of their salaries as overtime every month, and also some payments were being approved through the forging of signatures.
The council unanimously endorsed Khumalo's plans to call the officials to account for their actions.
Also revealed in her investigation were ghost workers – people no longer employed by the municipality whose salaries had been getting paid into existing employees' accounts for more than two years.
The shocking findings also reveal that casual workers were salaried as permanent staff, including receiving 13th cheques.
Forming part of preliminary investigations, hundreds of municipal workers were summoned to the city hall last week to submit their payslips and copies of identity documents.
Insiders claim that the short-listing process for vacant posts recently advertised by the municipality has been frozen for investigation.
According to unconfirmed reports, various departments at the municipality were littered with ghost workers.
Rumours are that some departments were also accepting funding for bogus staff workshops.
Plans to fill six crucial positions at the understaffed Fire Department were brought to an abrupt end by the investigation.
The department is rumoured to have two ghost "interns".
Khumalo's report recommends that implicated officials be suspended, pending the outcome of the investigations.
