De Lille asked me to bury fraud report – manager

Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille has been accused of asking one of her top managers to bury a damning report on allegations of corruption involving millions of rand. Craig Kesson, who is a director in De Lille's office, made the allegation in an affidavit handed to the council on Tuesday, according to a TimesLIVE report. It notes Kesson said he discovered that R43m in revenue had been lost when he attended a presentation on a contract for MyCiTi bus stations to be put out to tender by the commissioner of the city's transport and urban development authority, Melissa Whitehead. Kesson's affidavit said money had been ‘misappropriated’. Kesson alleged that ‘ICT Works, the automated fare-collection contractor, reported in November 2015 that AEM Cashiers manipulated equipment, circumvented required processes and misappropriated cash which should have been received by the city’. Kesson said he tried to present a report on his findings to De Lille but she refused to accept it. ‘(She) said that we needed to make the issue ‘’go away’’ and that the matter should not reach the council. This surprised me,’ said Kesson. De Lille said in a statement she had not been given an opportunity to respond to the allegations. ‘Once my lawyers have concluded my response to the content of the report, I will make it available by the end of the week,’ said De Lille.

City manager Achmat Ebrahim‚ Whitehead and Kesson face suspension following allegations of misconduct and possible irregularities. According to a TimesLIVE report, this comes after a full council meeting‚ sitting behind closed doors‚ took the resolution this week. The council meeting came after Kesson asked for an investigation into alleged irregularities involving the city’s Department of Transport and Urban Development. Going into the meeting‚ Kesson looked set to be suspended after four confidential reports recommended his suspension owing to his alleged unauthorised investigations into Whitehead and allegations against Ebrahim. In one of the confidential reports‚ he was also alleged to have leaked confidential city information to a DA member who is not part of the council. Council Speaker Dirk Smit confirmed the outcomes of the meeting. The meeting also resolved to task council’s audit committee with appointing an independent investigation into all allegations surrounding the three officials. A News24 report says they have until Tuesday to provide reasons why they should not be placed on ‘precautionary suspension’.