The controversial former head of housing in the eThekwini Municipality, is now a fund-raiser for an urban housing network body.
|||The controversial former head of housing in the eThekwini Municipality, Cogi Pather, has taken up a position as an international fund-raiser for urban housing network body, Shack Dwellers International.
Pather began his new job this month, hot on the heels of his resignation amid an upset during his tenure as housing boss.
His new post will see him based mainly in the Netherlands, with international travel expected in 33 countries. Shack Dwellers International headquarters are in Cape Town.
Pather confirmed this, and said his appointment should not to be seen as fleeing questions around the Manase investigation, which has implicated him among senior officials in eThekwini for alleged irregularities.
“I do realise that I will travel extensively, but will be available in South Africa to deal with any outstanding issues and to answer questions about the Manase investigations, or any other issue during my tenure as housing head for the municipality as stated in my letter of resignation,” he said.
Pather has denied any wrongdoing, and has called for the full disclosure of the Manase Report so that he could answer the allegations.
KZN Corporate Governance MEC, Nomusa Dube, has maintained that officials found guilty of irregularities would be held accountable – even if they left the country.
Her comments were made shortly after the departure from office of former city manager Mike Sutcliffe – who has also been named in the Manase Report – and talk that he was preparing to emigrate. However, Sutcliffe has dismissed this, saying he was based in Durban, but was involved in international consultancy work.
Sutcliffe had challenged the Manase allegations, saying that he and his former top officials were innocent of corruption and fraud. Instead, he said, he would sue his successor, S’bu Sithole, for R8 million for
damage to his reputation and loss of future earnings.
Sithole shot back at Sutcliffe, saying he would lay criminal charges against Sutcliffe and seek to recover R1.1m in lost revenue as a result of “Sutcliffe failing to report fraud and corruption”.
Since then, however, there has been no further comment, with council insiders saying Sutcliffe had won the battle.
“There is nothing they (the city) can do about Mike. The charges are weak,” a council source told the Daily News. “A senior Hawks official has told me himself that you cannot charge someone because they failed to report an irregularity, which is what Mike is being accused of.
“This fiasco with the report has not achieved anything substantial,” the source added. “We have not even seen this report to date. So where is the transparency and democracy that we talk about? Even the DA has gone quiet after claiming they were going to apply to court for the report’s full disclosure
.”
However, the DA’s Tex Collins said the party was waiting for an announcement by Sithole on the report tomorrow, after which the DA would decide on its court action. - Daily News