Thursday, 22 December 2011
Shock sex for houses claim
It started off with cash, a bottle of red label Johnnie Walker and a case of beer to local authorities to secure a low cost home. Now the dubious wheeling and dealing has unraveled further shocking claims where a certain Councillor is allegedly demanding sexual favours from young girls in return for a permanent shelter. While community members have hailed the swift intervention of the City of uMhlathuze to conduct an investigation into alleged previous irregularities relating to the housing allocation at uMhlathuze Village and eSikhaleni hostels, they say justice must prevail.
Young girls are reportedly being lured into sex as a tradeoff to guarantee their families are given priority on the housing beneficiary list. ‘The rumours have always been around, but we never had any tangible proof,’ says a community member. ‘The recent investigation by the municipality confirmed some of the allegations and implicated certain officials and Councillors,’ ‘But we can’t sit back and watch the abuse of young girls for houses. ‘Everyone knows what is happening in the community, but they are afraid of being victimised.’
In August the Zululand Observer exposed alleged acts of corruption in the compilation of housing beneficiary lists at uMhlathuze Village, which led to a forensic investigation conducted by Ngubane and Co.
Recommendations
The final report presented to Council recommended that Chief Housing Admin Officer, Sphiwe Thusi be charged departmentally and criminally, while Chief Housing Clerk, David Luthuli, be charged departmentally for violating the code of proper practice in the allocation of units.
It was also recommended that Councillors BC Mthembu and PM Ntanzi be removed from the Housing Panel and be charged for violating the Council Code of Conduct by displaying favouritism towards certain individuals when allocating houses.
However, the National Freedom Party in Ward 28 has called for Cllr Ntanzi to be fired immediately based on the final report. ‘Cllr Ntanzi should be dismissed for violating the Council Code of Conduct. ‘How can he still be the Ward 28 Councillor?’ said NFP Publicity Secretary for Ward 28, I Mchunu. ‘The original housing beneficiary list must be revisited and those who did not get houses must be prioritised. ‘All matters relating to housing allocation at Ngwelezane A section - Thinasobabili, must also be investigated as the implicated Councillor was also involved in the allocation of those family units,’ added Mchunu.
The City of uMhlathuze was unable to respond at the time of going to print.