The future of the head of Supply Chain Management in the eThekwini Municipality hangs in the balance after it emerged that the city had issued him with a letter of intention to suspend him.
“The Mercury” understands that the head was issued with the letter last week and was given until Friday to give reasons why he should not be suspended.
The head, whose name is known to “The Mercury”, declined to comment on the matter.
Several sources in the municipality have claimed that the action against him was brought on by the “poor performance” of his unit.
A few weeks ago, during an executive committee meeting the supply chain unit came under fire because other units accused it of failing to act speedily when it came to procurement processes.
There have even been suggestions that the unit should be split up and the departments take responsibility for their own procurement.
Sources in the municipality said the suspension was unlikely to be a result of malfeasance but might have to do with the performance of his unit.
A source in the municipality who was not aware of the suspension, said it might not be related to any wrongdoing.
“I do not know of any allegations of wrongdoing against him. I know that his unit has however come under heavy fire because it is accused of not doing its job, every process stalls there.”
Citing an example, the source said the water unit had come under fire for failing to deliver water, but the process to procure water tankers rested with the supply chain unit and that was where things were held up.
Another source with business interests in the city, alleged that part of the reason the supply chain head faced suspension was linked to water tanker contracts.
Another source concurred: “The issues around the head are just about the performance of his unit, he is accused of dereliction of duty.”
Queen Mbatha, leader of labour union Independent Municipal & Allied Trade Union (Imatu) in Durban, said they were aware of the letter.
“Imatu takes full cognisance that it is the duty of the employer to implement consequence management.
“We have been complaining about a selective approach on disciplining employees. Imatu advocates for equal treatment of all employees when it comes to disciplinary action.
“For a long time the head has been shielded while there are numerous concluded investigation reports warranting his discipline. Instead, junior employees have been made scapegoats in order to seal these reports,” she said.
Approached for comment, municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said: “Let us respect the internal processes of the municipality. We are a municipality that has a reputation of communicating and we do not sweep anything under the carpet. If the need arises, we will communicate, in the meantime we urge the media to respect the internal process of the municipality.”