KNYSNA NEWS - At first glance, when hearing that the municipality conducted a debugging and sweeping exercise you could be forgiven for thinking that the municipality hired a pest control company and killed off some cockroaches. 

Instead they claim to have had problems with bugs of the digital kind, and not only is the fee they paid deemed to be exorbitant by an expert, it was redirected from the municipal Animal Welfare Grant. KPH correspondent Chris van Gass investigates the buzz about the bugs.

The "debugging and sweeping" exercise took place only three weeks after the ANC-led coalition took over the reins at Knysna Municipality in September 2022. This emerged after leaked documents from a municipal whistleblower, obtained by Knysna-Plett Herald, questioned the R127 800 payment to a contractor who is known to Knysna's Acting Director: Corporate Services, Adv Luvuyo Loliwe.

The cellphones of the municipal manager, various directors and members of the mayoral committee, as well as their offices, were checked and debugged.

Various cellphones were checked after security concerns were raised.

'Exorbitant and irregular' fee

In response to questions put to the former acting municipal manager, Roland Butler, by KPH, he confirmed that the payment for the services rendered was made from the grant and that R130 000 was vired* from the Animal Welfare Grant of R260 058 – roughly half of the grant.

The contract to do the debugging work was facilitated by Loliwe on 22 September 2022 via "a deviation from [the] procurement process", according to Butler.

It has also emerged from comments received from security practitioner John Alexander of Cape Town-based Royal Investigations, that the price paid for the operation was "exorbitant and even irregular" and that the contractor and the municipality could face legal action in terms of the Private Security Industry Regulation Act, 2001 (Act No. 56 of 2001) – see story on Page __ for more details.

Friends or colleagues?

The contract was awarded to Mlindazwe Investments, that was paid R127 800 for the work. Asked by KPH whether Loliwe's actions to appoint Mlindazwe Investments - whose owner Bandile Malindazwe has been spotted in social media posts with Loliwe dating back to 2011 - constituted a conflict of interest, Butler stated the two simply used to work together. Find Malindazwe's response to the matter in the story on Page 5 of the Knysna-Plett Herald.

"Mr Mlindazwe and Adv Loliwe are former colleagues that stayed in the same small town for a decade, however, they are not personal friends," Butler said. When asked whether Mlindazwe Investments was registered in the supplier database, and if so, when the contractor was registered, Butler replied, "The appointment of Mlindazwe Investments was guided by the MFMA [municipal financial management] and Supply Chain Policy."

Knysna Municipality's Financial Services building.

Leaked documents

The documents were leaked to a Knysna resident by a municipal whistleblower, who both requested to remain anonymous. The resident said the documents "did the rounds" until they found their way "to me as someone willing to do something with those documents". Since then the municipal whistleblower has sent the documents to Butler and shared them with KPH – as well as three Knysna councillors and various provincial government officials, including Premier Alan Winde.

In the leaked municipal documents, Loliwe motivated that the debugging and sweeping was done because Butler received alerts from politicians and senior officials "about hearing pulsating static, high-pitched humming or other strange background noises when on voice calls on their cellphones". This led to the belief that their cellphone conversations were being tapped or intercepted.

"The acting municipal manager considered all the warnings, he instructed [the] acting director of Corporate Services to urgently procure the services of a supplier to debug and sweep all senior managers and councillors' offices and cellphones before more damage is caused. The type of service required can only be procured through deviation," the documents read.

Knysna Municipality Acting Director: Corporate Services, Adv Luvuyo Loliwe

No investigation

KPH had initially posed questions to Butler in December 2022 and also submitted follow-up questions in early January 2023. One of the responses received from Butler was that the "municipality is not aware of any irregularities or discrepancies." He added, "should you have different information, please report to the relevant channels".

In early January Butler had requested "an extension" before responding to the follow-up questions, stating, "The officials in a position to furnish us with detailed information are on leave until mid-January." Ultimately Butler informed KPH that he stands by his original replies wherein he said there was no investigation into the matter.

"The correct process was followed in terms of MFMA and council SCM [supply chain management] policy," he said. Asked if the municipality owned its own debugging equipment, Butler said, "The municipality used a PRO-400D radio frequency detector. This detects anything that transmits a radio signal. Therefore, a company with the necessary equipment was procured through a supply chain process to conduct the works."

Butler also said the device "was insufficient, that is why external services were procured".

Asked how many councillors complained about the "security threat", and whether or not any bugged devices were found, Butler said, "Due to the nature of the matter and the privacy of the elected officials we cannot divulge this information".

*According to Butler, "virement/vired [is]the process of transferring an approved budgetary provision from one operating cost item or capital project to another within a vote or across a vote during a municipal financial year due to changed circumstances which prevailed at the time of the previous budget adoption - to the security vote for the service".

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