Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse has ordered the city’s acting manager, Floyd Brink, to reinstate urgently Shadrack Sibiya’s investigative powers, according to a letter seen by TimesLIVE.
Phalatse says she believes Brink misunderstood the scope of his role and he did not have the authority to remove Sibiya’s powers.
Sibiya, who has headed the city’s anti-corruption unit for five years, was told a week ago of the intention to place him on suspension because he did not have a ‘top secret’ security clearance certificate.
On Tuesday, Phalatse’s spokesperson, Mabine Seabe, said despite this, the mayor requested Brink to reinstate Sibiya’s investigative powers.
‘This is a serious matter given the role that GFIS [Group Forensics and Investigation Services] plays in fighting corruption, vetting employees and upholding the general security of the city,’ said Seabe.
Seabe said that the acting city manager stated that the withdrawal of the delegations does not affect the operations of GFIS. Brink demanded that all reports and information be submitted to his office for approval.
‘This goes against the independence of the unit,’ said Seabe.
The report accused Sibiya of failing to provide a formal authorisation from the State Security Agency, which entitled him to procure and deploy intelligence-gathering equipment within the city’s jurisdiction.
Phalatse and Lerato Nage, the chair of the group audit committee and Sibiya’s direct line manager, wrote a scathing response to Brink. He was called upon ‘to reinstate the delegations as a matter of urgency’.
In a letter of 15 April that TimesLIVE has seen, Phalatse and Nage said Brink illustrated a ‘serious misunderstanding of (his) role as the city manager and accounting officer’.
Sibiya’s lawyers, Ian Levitt Attorneys, insist the report was defamatory and damaged Sibiya’s reputation, and they have demanded a public apology.