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Suspicious ratepayers say municipal official’s disciplinary hearing must be public

Suspicious ratepayers say municipal official’s disciplinary hearing must be public
Greg Ardé
By Greg Ardé
1 Oct 2023
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In the KwaDukuza Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, residents have gone to great lengths to have their say about the latest claims of bribery and corruption.

Shamir Rajcoomar, the suspended chief financial officer of the KwaDukuza municipality, went to the Durban High Court last week and secured an interdict against disciplinary action being taken against him. The move follows ratepayers’ attempts to make public Rajcoomar’s hearing.

The municipality placed Rajcoomar on precautionary suspension in July for financial misconduct relating to irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

The charges date back to when the municipality changed bankers a few years ago and started migrating its bank accounts. At issue is the fact that some bank accounts were kept open because some ratepayers kept on paying into the old account. This was discussed by councillors at the time and was even the subject of a council report.

Then, earlier this year, the ANC moved against Rajcoomar, saying bank fees of about R37,000 were notched up in the process and he was to blame.

Ratepayers were surprised by the vigorous action against Rajcoomar, a career civil servant. The municipality has had 17 unqualified audits under his watch, and in 2012 was voted by Ratings Afrika as the most financially sustainable in the country.

Municipality well run


Warwick Chapman, chairperson of the KwaDukuza Residents’ Forum, said as far as residents were aware Rajcoomar was “the reason the municipality has been well run and has a long track record of comparatively prudent financial management”.

So, suspicious ratepayers arrived at the start of his disciplinary hearing and petitioned for it to be open to the public.

They believe he is being sidelined so that the governing ANC can get its hands on R1.2-billion earmarked for flood-related disaster relief.

Advocate Saleem Khan SC is representing Rajcoomar and secured the interdict.

At the disciplinary hearing, when the public petitioned for access, the presiding officer said only local journalist Penny Fourie from Ballito’s Radio Life & Style could attend and make notes of the proceedings, but not record it or name witnesses.

“This is ratepayers’ money. It is a matter of public interest. We have an obligation to make this public. The problem is I am the only one allowed in,” Fourie said.

The radio station has limited coverage and Fourie isn’t the only journalist in town. So, she and ratepayers briefed Khan, who took the presiding officer’s decision on review to the Pietermaritzburg High Court. A ruling will be made in October.

A flawed process

With Fourie inside the meeting room, Rajcoomar’s disciplinary resumed earlier this month and Khan took issue with another matter, arguing that the council voting process to discipline Rajcoomar was flawed.

Councillors voted on motions over two days, on 7 June and 7 July, to decide whether to suspend Rajcoomar.

Not everyone voted. Khan says the municipality hasn’t been able to furnish records of the voting, which impinges on Rajcoomar’s right to “just administrative action”.

Khan also put in for a high court review of that process.

The presiding officer didn’t accept this and Khan applied for and secured the interdict. It effectively suspended the disciplinary action against Rajcoomar pending argument in court in November about the voting process. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R29.

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