Political heads, managers, and union representatives in a Limpopo municipality have decided to hunt for a whistleblower who allegedly leaked information about the irregular awarding of tenders worth R61.1 million.
The municipality is not investigating the alleged corruption.
According to City Press, all the parties agreed that the Thulamela Local Municipality manager in Thohoyandou, Masala Makumule, should investigate to find the mole and sue the newspaper for publishing the story.
However, Makumele and the technical services senior manager, Aluwani Gangashe, have been accused of awarding tenders without following supply chain management processes. They have excluded the chief financial officer, Colbert Mufamadi, and supply chain management unit officials.
The two were accused on social media by Thulamela companies of aggressively demanding bribes from contractors.
Thulamela municipal spokesman, Nndwamato Tshiila didn’t respond to questions from City Press about the decision and the municipality’s stance on protecting whistleblowers.
Sources said that Makumule had allegedly allocated tenders only in consultation with Gangashe, not Mufamadi.
Makumule has allegedly been pressuring Mufamadi to pay for projects he has no knowledge about.
Mufamadi has refused to pay unless it’s recorded that he was being forced to make irregular payments.
City Press claims to have seen a document in which Makumule asks Gangashe to allocate tenders to two companies ‘in the same way’ he had appointed two companies previously.