SISULU SERVES ZITUMANE

Minister of human settlements pursues R2m defamation case against EX-CEO

Lindiwe Sisulu, the minister of human settlements, water & sanitation, is suing under-siege former Amatola Water Board CEO Vuyo Zitumane for defamation and is demanding R2m in damages to her reputation.

Sisulu and Zitumane will lock horns at the East London high court. Zitumane was served with a summons to appear in court on July 21 to face charges of defamation.

Relations between the two soured in recent months amid counter allegations of fraud and corruption, with both understood to have also opened criminal cases against each other.

Their troubles stem from the period when Zitumane was the CEO of the water board before she was suspended. She abruptly resigned in late 2020.

It was reported that Sisulu is also suing Phineas Legodi, the former CEO of the Lepelle Northern Water Board in Limpopo, for R1m.

Zitumane’s lawyer, Java Mama, on Thursday confirmed receipt of the defamation summons and said the defamation claims had no merit.

“Miss Zitumane observes that she has become a permanent and handy distraction. If it is not wailing about allegations of corruption, some other invention is sure to enjoy its place in the sun. It is now the turn for a defamation narrative.

“It seems, almost tragically, that all minister Sisulu’s problems have Vuyo Zitumane’s imprint all over them.

“At about the same time, last year, this apparent obsession moved a young man who claimed to have fought one of her advisers, and broken his ribs, to call Miss Zitumane and plead for a truce.

“While Miss Zitumane has a record of such conversation, she had hoped that the days of her being used as a propaganda drum would pass.

“The claim contained in the summons will be defended.”

Zitumane, Mama said, also reserved her right to institute a counterclaim against Sisulu. He however refused to provide more details about the man, Sisulu’s adviser and the incident he was referring to, saying all would be revealed in court.

In her court papers, Sisulu said she was suing Zitumane for allegedly telling media outlets that she was being targeted by the minister because of Zitumane’s refusal “to break supply chain regulations”, despite alleged pressure from Sisulu and one of her advisers.

Zitumane had apparently openly accused Sisulu and her adviser, Mphumzi Mdekazi, of trying to pressure her into using a specific service provider for a multimillion-rand sand water abstraction Amatola Water Board contract, while she had also “suggested” that this move was connected to debts Mdekazi had allegedly accumulated in support of Sisulu’s failed presidential bid in 2019.

Sisulu was also accused of abusing her power.

Sisulu’s spokesperson, Steve Motale, on Thursday confirmed that both Zitumane and Legodi were being taken to court.

“Both Zitumane and Legodi allegedly used the media and courts to tarnish the minister’s name and that of her department,” Motale said.

Sisulu, Motale said, was suing Legodi for accusing her of overreaching and acting unlawfully and corruptly when in 2019 she hired another company, Empowering Water Solutions, as the sole service provider to run a trial plant of the sand water extraction system technology.

“The board also faced a similar fate and probes into questionable tenders which saw the board being dissolved in May last year, while Zitumane was put on suspension before she eventually resigned.

“In separate matters, in June last year, the board, after tabling the forensic investigation laid criminal charges against Zitumane, who was allegedly found by an independent investigation to have been involved in the manipulation of supply chain management processes and the awarding of tenders at inflated prices.

“Both resigned before the completion of their disciplinary cases. The two former CEOS combined, faced more than 50 charges, including alleged fraud and corruption.”

Motale said Sisulu’s department had received the reports of the forensic investigations and had handed these over to law enforcement agencies.

In June it was reported that Sisulu had told parliament that Eastern Cape law enforcement agencies and some politicians were working against her efforts to rid the water board of corruption. She accused the agencies of sabotaging her work, saying law enforcement agencies did not cooperate.

A frustrated Sisulu had even written to suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule seeking political guidance on how she should handle the Amatola Water Board issue.

At the time, Sisulu wrote that the issue of Zitumane had been brought to the attention of the police long ago for possible investigation and prosecution.

“We get the impression it is deliberately suppressed as some people implicated have links to government officials and political leaders in the province.”