Durban — EThekwini Municipality Financial Misconduct Board chairperson Advocate Makhosini Nkosi has branded municipalities as a breeding ground of corruption.
Nkosi, a former Newcastle Municipality mayor in the north-west of KwaZulu-Natal was speaking at the anti-fraud summit jointly organised by the eThekwini Municipality and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) in Durban on Thursday.
Nkosi said it was a common cause in the municipalities to find a junior manager living an expensive lifestyle that surpasses that of the municipal manager.
“I say this without any fear of contradiction that there is a high level of corruption in the municipality. I was once an employee of the municipality myself, so I know better what is going on there,” said Nkosi.
He emphasised ethical behaviour, saying he does not regret returning the two-month salaries he was paid after he had left the municipality. He said although he understood that the reason for paying him after he had left was because the council had not met to accept his resignation, he felt it would be unethical for him to take the taxpayers’ money whereas, he knew that he did work for it since he had left.
Nkosi added that many of his fellow comrades he spoke to about payment told him he would be stupid if he returned the money, but his conscience forced him to return the salaries to the municipality.
“After my resignation, I called the payroll office staff and told them not to do what they normally do - paying people who have left the office because technically they were still employees. They said to me they won’t do it, but they paid me,” concludes Nkosi.
The summit was attended by senior officials from the crime-fighting institutions, including National Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Rodney De Kock, KwaZulu-Natal Director of Public Prosecutions Adv. Elaine Harrison, the provincial head of the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigations (Hawks) Major General Lesetja Senona and many forensic investigators.
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