Senior politicians and officials at the King Sabata Dalindyebo municipality are expected to face fraud and corruption charges over the alleged misuse of municipal funds arising from a trip to attend an ANC rally in KwaZulu-Natal two years ago.
The group includes KSD mayor Nyaniso Nelani and municipal manager Ngamela Pakade, together with three others now under investigation by law enforcement agencies.
Those implicated include a former KSD senior finance official, member of the mayoral committee and ANC councillor Nombulelo Sibeko, and a former personal assistant to then agriculture, rural development and agrarian reform deputy minister Zoleka Capa.
Of the five, only Nelani and Sibeko attended the trip, which included a gala dinner.
They are expected to appear in the Mthatha Commercial Crimes Court later in June after being served with summonses.
According to court papers seen by the Dispatch, the charges include fraud, corruption and contravention of the Municipal Financial Management Act linked to the alleged irregular use of more than R163,000 in municipal funds to finance a trip to the ANC’s rally in Durban in February 2024.
An initial court appearance was scheduled for earlier this month but was cancelled, and the matter was then provisionally set down for June 30.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Luxolo Tyali would neither confirm nor deny these developments on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, we are not at liberty to comment on a matter that is not enrolled in court yet,” he said.
However, the Dispatch has established through insiders at the NPA and the Hawks as well as confidential council documents, that the case is advancing towards formal enrolment.
Those documents include summonses and a draft charge sheet, which also form part of internal council papers in which Nelani and Pakade request municipal legal assistance, indicating that they face possible prosecution.
The alleged offences are understood to form part of a broader investigation into the misuse of municipal resources for travel linked to political events, though officials have not confirmed the scope of the probe.
Nelani, when contacted, answered his phone but cut the call shortly after a Dispatch reporter identified himself. He did not respond to follow-up messages.
Pakade confirmed he was aware of the summonses and the application for council-funded legal representation, saying the matter had been referred to the council’s ethics committee for consideration.
“The matter is still sub judice. I cannot comment further. It is still being considered by council.”
But he said there was a possibility the matter might not proceed to court, arguing that investigators might not have the full picture, and that other municipal officials also travelled to KwaZulu-Natal for the ANC event.
According to the draft charge sheet attached to council documents, Nelani and Sibeko allegedly used state funds for what was represented as an invitation to attend an official government programme, but which was allegedly used to justify attendance at the ANC rally instead.
Capa’s former PA is accused of drafting a fraudulent letter, purportedly signed by Capa, dated January 25 2024, inviting the mayor to attend the government programme.
The letter was allegedly used to motivate for funding of the trip.
Pakade and a senior KSD official are further alleged to have authorised travel, accommodation and related costs for the Durban trip, totalling R163,203.
In written representations to council, Nelani said the matter arose from the execution of his official duties.
“The matter does not arise from personal conduct detached from office, but from circumstances linked to decisions undertaken whilst serving in my official capacity as executive mayor,” he wrote in a letter dated May 19 to council speaker Nomamfengu Siyo-Sokutu.
Pakade, in a separate letter dated May 15, also requested legal assistance, saying his actions formed part of his duties as accounting officer.
Siyo-Sokutu confirmed that the matter had been referred to an ad hoc committee after a motion was tabled by opposition parties and said the council had rejected the request for legal funding pending verification of how the municipal funds were used.
“We cannot approve such applications until we are satisfied that municipal funds were indeed spent for official purposes,” she said.
Capa, now deputy minister of agriculture after the department was hived off from rural development and agrarian reform, said she was aware of the allegations involving her former PA, who had been questioned by law enforcement officials regarding the disputed invitation letter.
The deputy minister denied any involvement, saying an internal departmental process had found no link to the document bearing her electronic signature.
ANC Eastern Cape spokesperson Yanga Zicina said he was aware of the matter but had not yet been formally briefed.
He said the party’s step-aside rule would apply if any deployees were formally charged.
Sibeko said she was in an ANC meeting in Qumbu and could not comment due to poor network coverage.
The former senior KSD official and Capa’s ex-PA have not been named because they could not be reached for comment.
Nelani appears to have recently fallen out of favour in ANC structures — the OR Tambo region failed to nominate him for another term as mayor after the November 4 municipal elections.
His name was not among the region’s proposed candidates, with Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla, emerging as a leading contender to replace him.
The case is expected to place renewed scrutiny on governance practices within the cash-strapped KSD municipality, which has previously faced criticism over poor financial controls and procurement processes.
Daily Dispatch