Staff Reporter
ActionSA’s Johannesburg Caucus has called on former City of Johannesburg Chief Whip of Council and now Group Corporate and Shared Services MMC Sithembiso Zungu to step down from his role in light of the allegations levelled against him.
ActionSA Johannesburg caucus leader Marcel Coutriers expressed concerns that despite the existence of a prima facie case of corruption and extortion against Zungu, Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero has proceeded with his “reckless” appointment.
“It has been alleged that Cllr Zungu received funds from Mr Stegman, deposited into his personal bank account via a company named CITYDEV Construction, which is involved in housing development projects. Further claims suggest that Cllr Zungu accepted no less than R400,000 from CITYDEV as a so-called “protection fee,” said Coutriers.
“These allegations are not new. ActionSA previously submitted a formal request to the then-Speaker of Council, Cllr Colleen Makhubela, calling for Cllr Zungu’s referral to the City’s Ethics Committee for urgent investigation.”
Coutriers said ActionSA would write to the South African Police Service, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) to investigate these claims.
“In the interim, we call on Cllr Zungu to voluntarily step down from his MMC role and take the necessary steps to clear his name. Furthermore, we hold Mayor Morero responsible for deliberately appointing an individual facing such serious allegations, and we condemn this act as an insult to the residents of Johannesburg who demand ethical and competent leadership,” said Coutriers.
“ActionSA believes that there is no coincidence between these dubious appointments by the governing coalition and the witch-hunt body restarted last week solely to target and discredit the fight against corruption and mismanagement in the City of Johannesburg. ActionSA will exercise maximum oversight and resist any attempts to return Johannesburg to an era of rampant corruption.
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