Beneath Durban’s wide blue sky, where sturdy skyscrapers catch the light and eThekwini Municipality City Hall stands as a symbol of civic duty, a quieter battle is being fought, one against fraud and corruption, as the City Integrity and Investigations Directorate works with law enforcement agencies and courageous whistleblowers to clear the shadows from the city’s skyline and build a future founded on accountability and trust.
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Robust collaboration of law enforcement agencies, business and residents is key in good governance and fighting against fraud and corruption. Our collaboration with law enforcement agencies must have an effect on curtailing misconduct statistics.
The massive achievement we have accomplished is a true reflection of working with multilateral stakeholders to curtail beneficiaries of fraud and corruption. We would like to express our appreciation to stakeholders who have heeded the call to anonymously report any irregularities and misconduct. The Municipality has suffered an immense financial loss derived from theft and fraud.
The Directorate’s mandate is derived and aligned with the National Anti-Corruption Strategy.The directorate administratively reports to the City Manager and in the following oversight committees, Municipal Public Accounts Committee, Integrated Risk Management Committee, Financial Misconduct Disciplinary Board, Audit and Risk Committee.
The municipality has taken a firm stance against fraud and corruption to swiftly investigate the reported cases. Our turnaround time to complete an investigation is six months. This may take longer especially in cases referred to the criminal justice courts. We are aware of the members of the public who relentlessly bribe Municipal officials in exchange for employment. This is fraud and corruption, which is a criminal offense and we will catch them.
Two employees were prosecuted for fraud late last year and earlier this year. One was found guilty of creating fraudulent purchase orders, falsifying signatures and approving invoices for goods that were never received. The second was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment for tampering with closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems. We will continue collaborating with external law enforcement agencies to combat fraud and corruption.
In the second quarter of 2025/2026 financial year, 136 cases of fraud and corruption were investigated, 171 infrastructure theft cases were investigated, 24 cases of employees who were implicated has been recommended for disciplinary hearings, 14 cases were recommended for recoveries, two services providers to be blacklisted and three criminal cases were registered with law enforcement.
In this file picture an eThekwini Municipality employee is led in handcuffs to a vehicle after his arrest in a multi-disciplinary sting operation for alleged cybercrime, theft, sabotage and vandalism for allegedly tampering with closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras for criminal benefit.
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We remain resolute and will not be influenced by politicians or executive management in carrying out our duties. Any implicated officials will be held accountable. We have the authority to investigate Municipal employees, municipal entities, Councillors and service providers.
Working with the National Prosecuting Authority, Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation – Hawks and South African Police Service clearly strengthen our commitment to curtain criminal activities.
Our strategic vision is to continue evolving CIID from a traditional internal investigative component into a professional forensic investigation directorate aligned with the standards of the broader criminal justice system.
This transformation is critical in ensuring that municipal forensic investigations produce evidence capable of sustaining both disciplinary accountability and criminal prosecution. We have met with law enforcement agencies to iron out some of the challenges that are hindrances to successful apprehensions. It is a collaboration between investigators and prosecutors that investigations translate into effective admissible, reliable and persuasive evidence in the court of law.
Our responsibility is not only to investigate fraud, corruption, irregularities and misconducts, but to ensure the recovery of unlawfully diverted Municipality funds. We identify, freeze, confiscate, and recover the proceeds of crime. In executing this, we are guided by legislation, such as, Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (PRECCA), Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA), Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) and Cybercrimes Act.
We call upon prosecutors, investigators, auditors, law enforcement agencies and municipal officials, businesses and residents to operate as partners with a shared and common mission. Let us work together to defend and protect resources that are susceptible to fraudsters, let us hold them accountable for their actions. Residents and stakeholders are encouraged to report fraud and corruption to the CIID on 0800 20 20 20 or 031 311 4002, or via email at ombuds@durban.gov.za.
(Ngcobo is the Director of City Integrity and Investigations Directorate (CIID) at eThekwini Municipality. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the Sunday Tribune or IOL)
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Jimmy Ngcobo Director of City Integrity and Investigations Directorate (CIID) at eThekwini Municipality.
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