Mashazi’s London shopping spree: DA lays criminal charges against former City Manager [VIDEO]

Former Ekurhuleni city manager Imogen Mashazi. Picture: The Citizen. The DA in the City of Ekurhuleni has laid corruption charges against the metro’s former City Manager, Imogen Mashazi.

The DA opened a case at the Germiston police station on Monday after weekend media reports revealed that a service provider to the City of Ekurhuleni has paid for a R3.5 million trip to London on a private jet. The trip was described as a shopping spree. Mashazi has refused on a number of occasions to disclose who had funded the trip, and she has insisted that funds from the municipality, which she led, were not used for this trip.

But according to reports, a businessperson who was on the flight with her scored a massive tender with the City of Ekurhuleni after returning from that trip. According to reports, controversial businessman Ze Nxumalo funded the London trip through one of his companies, but he has denied this, saying that his company only received quotations from the person who funded the trip. DA mayoral candidate, Khathutshelo Rasilingwane, alleged on Monday that Mashazi has violated a number of laws and abused her powers as City Manager.

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“Mashazi accepted a chartered flight to London worth millions of rands. She did not declare the trip. From the allegations contained in this weekend’s papers – it is now clear why: the money for the flight originated from a company called XET Solutions, which at the time had an active tender in place with the city.

“This is part of the billions of public funds that have been looted while service delivery collapses. There is therefore reason to be concerned that the former City Manager has violated not just the supply chain management policies of the city, but key parts of the Municipal Systems Act, the MFMA, and the Prevention & Combating of Corrupt Activities Act,” said Rasilingwane. The City of Ekurhuleni has featured prominently on the Madlaga Commission, with evidence coming out of that commission revealing that the City’s funds were being looted in a sophisticated network of corruption and collusion.

XET Solutions has won tenders from the city to work on vital infrastructure related to electronic bill payments in the City of Ekurhuleni. “In particular, the tender number A-ICT 02-2021, which was awarded when Mzwandile Masina was the Executive Mayor, tasked XET Solutions with the support, maintenance, upgrade, expansion and skills transfer of the enterprise resource planning solution used by the city.

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