Durban — A Department of Agriculture staffer in KwaZulu-Natal could be in hot water after he allegedly used a state vehicle to attend an ANC meeting in Durban without approval.
Mbongiseni Nxumalo, an ANC ward 13 branch member in Vryheid under the Abaqulusi Local Municipality, allegedly drove from Newcastle to Durban with a car belonging to the department.
He attended the meeting which was sitting for a dispute he had lodged against his branch nomination. Nxumalo could also be in trouble for allegedly allowing two other non-department ANC members to travel in a government vehicle which is not allowed.
After the Daily News team was tipped off about the matter it went to the office and found the car parked outside the Dr Pixley kaSeme House on Stalwart Simelane street which is the party's provincial headquarters. The car fit the description given by the newspaper’s sources.
Ward 13 branch chairperson Maria Mabaso confirmed that Nxumalo had hauled the branch executive into the meeting where he came with two other branch members. She said she did not know which transport he had used to attend the meeting. Mabaso said Nxumalo had disputed the nominations and the agenda of the meeting but had failed to convince the dispute resolution panel that the dispute was genuine.
Nxumalo dropped the phone after listening to questions. On the second attempt his cellphone rang unanswered. He did not respond to questions sent to him.
Department spokesperson Vusi Zuma said the department had contacted its Majuba district office in Newcastle where the employee in question was based. He said the department would conduct a full investigation as it takes matters of government resource abuse very seriously.
"We will investigate the matter. We will request a report from the employee to ascertain the trips taken by the employee with the state car allocated to him on that day to check whether there was any assignment where the car was allegedly seen", said Zuma.
Daily News