ACTIONSA in Gauteng has announced that the money the city deposited into its account during Dr Nasiphi Moya’s last term of office has been returned.
This after the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) threatened to remove the newly appointed deputy mayor of Tshwane from office.
EFF had written a letter to ActionSA candidate Moya calling on her to come clean on the reports of financial mismanagement that allegedly took place during her tenure as chief of staff under then mayor Stevens Mokgalapa after she failed to honour the trip to Saudi Arabia she was supposed to attend.
The party claimed that if Moya could steal R10 000 in a junior position, what damage will she do as deputy mayor?
It further pointed out that Tshwane then paid about R167 000 for her trip to Saudi Arabia, which Moya did not attend, and that the money allocated to her was never returned.
ActionSA Gauteng chairman Funzi Ngobeni said on Tuesday, 6 February that the Tshwane deputy mayor voluntarily returned the travel allowance together with the accrued interest that had been paid to her account by the city for a trip that was later cancelled.
Ngobeni said Moya has been proactive in dealing with the matter, offering help and agreeing to repay the money without being asked to do so by the city.
"It's important to note that the said amount was originally meant as a travel allowance for an official international trip to the Middle East during the time Dr Moya was a staff member in the Executive Mayor's office," Ngobeni said.
Ngobeni said it was important to clarify, in response to allegations to the contrary, that Moya had no influence over the travel arrangements or subsequent cancellation, thereby refuting any insinuations of wrongdoing by the deputy mayor.
"Although the city did not demand the amount back, Moya has since repaid it in full. When she offered to pay interest on this amount, the city could not accept this, whereupon Moya donated the interest to charity, with a donation of R6 000 being made to King's Hope, a women’s shelter in Olievenhoutbosch," he said.
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Ngobeni said the deputy mayor would like to assure the residents of Tshwane that her sole focus is on revitalising the city and fulfilling important obligations, with the ultimate goal of making the capital of South Africa a world-class city once again.
The EFF’s regional chairman in Tshwane, Obakeng Ramabodu, said the steps taken by Moya were an admission of guilt.
He said Moya must resign and the party will open case against her and report the matter to the Public Protector.
Tshwane spokesman Sipho Stuurman confirmed that the deputy mayor had indeed made a payment of R10 000.
"The transaction was made on Thursday, 1 February and has been confirmed by our finance department," he said.
Stuurman said the investigation by the city manager's office is still ongoing and that the payment does not stop this independent process.
