LUCAS LEDWABA|
THE board of the embattled Lepelle Northern Water has suspended its acting chief executive Ahuiwi Netshidaulu in a bizarre move seen by many as a sinister ploy to remove him from the influential position.
Since his appointment as acting CEO last November, Netshidaulu has been a thorn in the side of many tenderpreneurs, who previously benefitted from the lucrative and corrupt multi-million tenders from the cash-strapped state owned entity.
Just this week, former Lepelle chief executive Phineas Legodi appeared before the Polokwane Specialised Commercial Crimes Court to face criminal charges after police investigations linked him to the alleged kidnapping of Netshidaulu last November.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority statement issued on Thursday, it is alleged that the former CEO Legodi influenced controversial businessman Matome Sefalafala to source out sergeant Gideon Matlala of Mamelodi police station to kidnap the acting CEO to authorise payment amounting to R2 980 962 under the pretence that Lepelle Northern Water Board owed him money, which was not true.
According to the police, Legodi and Sefalafala are the kingpins behind Netshidualu’s kidnapping, after he repeatedly refused to process payment for Sefalafala’s company- Falaz General Trading & Construction.
The company was awarded the tender for the collection, removal and disposal of hazardous waste management during Legodi’s tenure as Lepelle CEO. But the decision was overturned after the Limpopo High Court judgement, which found that the awarding of the tender was irregular and invalid.
In a dramatic turn of events this week, the board slapped Netshiduale with a letter of suspension, despite his proven commitment to clean up the mess left by Legodi’s administration.
In a letter dated 13 September and signed by board member Dr Pulane Molokwane, Netshidaulu was informed he had been “placed on precautionary suspension until further notice pending investigation into allegations of gross misconduct and misrepresentation.”
Netshidaulu is a complainant in a case that implicates Legodi, two policemen and Sefalafala.
The case against the trio was postponed in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Polokwane on Thursday.
Netshidaulu was allegedly kidnapped to force him to authorise payment of R2,9 million to Sefalafala, whose R45 million tender with Lepelle has been cancelled after the Polokwane High Court found it was invalid and irregular.
In its suspension letter to Netshidaulu, who was hailed as a corruption buster when he was appointed to the position, Lepelle’s Board did not provide details that led to their decision to suspend him.
“The Board reserve the right to add any further allegations that are appropriate in the light of information that may arise during the investigation,” the letter reads in part.
The board notified Netshidaulu that during his suspension the institution will continue to pay his salary and that his conditions of service and contractual benefits shall remain unchanged.
“Your employment shall continue throughout the precautionary suspension and you remain bound by all your terms and conditions of employment. You are not required to carry out any of your duties and should not attend the workplace unless authorised by the Board to do so,” the letter reads.
The board further warned that Netshidaulu is “required to co-operate in the investigation and may be required to attend the workplace for investigative interviews or disciplinary hearings. You must not communicate with any employee of LNW, contractors or customers unless authorised by the Board. Your official email account will be suspended/redirected, and you will not have access to the computer network for the duration of the suspension.”
Lepelle, which is mandated to provide bulk water to communities in Limpopo is the subject of investigations by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU), the Hawks and the department of water and sanitation.
Former Finance Minister Tito Mboweni last year revealed that government spent about R3,5 billion on the Giyani Water Project meant to have initially cost R500 million.
Fifty-five villages were meant to get water through the project, which started in 2016, but to date, they still have no water. The SIU is currently investigating that matter and was reported to have been trying to recover R2,2 billion from LTE Consulting Engineers appointed then by LNW.
Last week, Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu lashed out at the authority during a three-day visit to Limpopo, where Lepelle is implicated in a failed multi-billion project, meant to provide water to communities in Giyani.
The minister told Inside Politic on Thursday evening that under his watch, corruption would not be tolerated.
“All we want from Lepelle is delivery of water to communities,” said Mchunu.
Asked if Netshidaule’s suspension had anything to do with his visit to the province, Mchunu said: “I would not know unless somebody said so. They [Lepelle] don’t have to consult us when they make those decisions.”
He said the troubled water utility needed to move with speed to improve its credibility, financial management and its mandate to deliver water.
Approached for comment this week, Netshidaule referred all queries to the organisation as he was not authorised to talk to the media.
Lepelle Northern Water spokesperson Yolande Nel said the suspension is not linked to the visit by
Mchunu.
“The suspension is the result of an earlier resolution taken by the Board of LNW, however, the matter was brought to the Minister’s attention,” she said.
Mchunu said Lepelle needs to be busy to improve their credibility, financial management and their mandate to deliver water.
Nel confirmed that Netshidaulu has been suspended.
“LNW is not at liberty to discuss reasons for his suspension as it is an employee-employer matter,” she
said.
Responding to whether the suspension was linked to Netshidaulu’s case, Nel said: “The internal investigation is ongoing and LNW will only be able to respond further upon conclusion of the processes relating to the investigation.”
Netshidaulu was provided with bodyguards by Lepelle Northern Water following his alleged hijacking.
However these have since been withdrawn.
“The security measures that were immediately put in place following the reported incident have since been withdrawn, upon the Board having assessed the situation and given consideration to the level of risk posed at the time,” Nel said.
In an interview last September, soon after he was appointed acting CEO, Netshidaulu, dubbed “Mr Clean”, admitted that there were serious challenges facing Lepelle Northern Water Board. But he was quick to add that they were working on them.
“What I’m already doing as acting CE is to try and stabilise the organisation. There’s a lot of things that were said about Lepelle in the media which are actually not a good image for the organisation. My mission is to rebrand the organisation as there is a lot of wrong perception about it out there. We need to change that,” explains Netshidaulu.
He went on to explain that the organisation was having a problem of liquidity.
“What we need to do is to make sure that we have stability for the going concern of the organisation. We have to create a relationship with municipalities so that they can prioritise paying us for the services we render to them,” he added.
Netshidaulu holds an MBA and a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering. Before joining Lepelle Northern Waterboard, he had a stint at the CSIR where he held the position of General Manager.
“I guess that is where I inherited my passion for research which has come in handy for me. I research every problem that we encounter here at Lepelle and make sure that we follow it through, make a problem statement out of it and even go as far as getting someone within Lepelle to register it.
Lepelle Board chairperson Dr Ndweleni Mphephu had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publishing.
- Additional reporting by Pearl Rantsekeng
