CHOPPED: Former Mbombela municipal manager

Mbombela municipal manager Jacob Dladla was found guilty of corrupt practices related to the R920m 2010 Fifa World Cup Mbombela Stadium scandal on Thursday – and fired with immediate effect.

Dladla lost his R820000 a year salary after he was found guilty on all of the five charges he faced, including one that he manipulated the tender awarded to construction company Lefika Emerging Equity Group, which is co-owned by Kaizer Chiefs manager Bobby Motaung.

Lefika was awarded the deal to build the 43000-seater stadium in Nelspruit that will be used for Fifa 2010 World Cup games at a cost of R920m.

Other allegations against Dladla was also charged with deleting sensitive information from his municipal-issued laptop after the late Mbombela municipal speaker Jimmy Mohlala blew the whistle on the alleged corruption involved in the building of the stadium.

Mohlala was murdered on January 4. No one has as yet been arrested, despite the police offering a R100000 reward to anyone with information about his death.

Mohlala’s tip-off led to the suspension of Dladla and former mayor Justice Nsibande, who was “recalled” by the ANC, as well as the city’s 2010 co-ordinator Differ Mogale.

Forensic investigations later established that Lefika received an alleged irregular payment of R43m and that Mogale’s appointment had been irregular. Dladla had appointed him on a five-year contract with an annual salary of R480000.

Nsibande and Dladla were ordered to personally repay the council Mogale’s three months’ salary, as well as the expenses of an unauthorised 2010 fact-finding trip to Dubai.

Lefika’s former CEO Chris Grib skipped the country for Dubai after the scandal broke and there is a warrant out for his arrest.

Mbombela executive mayor Lassy Chiwayo confirms Dladla was fired.

Asked what will happen to Lefika, Chiwayo says: “We’ve just settled the matter with Dladla.Now we’ll go back and look at the other parties implicated in this scandal.”