Nqaba Ludidi, official accused of corruption lands high ranking job

A manager who was accused of corruption gets hired for a top job at KZN Transport Department. A former senior manager at Buffalo City Metro (BCM) who is an accused in the Nelson Mandela memorial incident has been appointed for another top job at the KZN Transport Department. The official, Nqaba Ludidi worked at the metro’s supply chain management unit before he and about 10 other senior employees, business entities and politicians were alleged to have committed fraud and corruption. The memorial took place in 2013 and out of the R10 million, a payment of R1.3 million was made to a businessman for the supply of 20 000 T-shirts. Some amounts had to be paid to transport the mourners. The Mandela case is still being attended to at the Bhisho high court in the Eastern Cape. The Transport Department said Ludidi was hired because of his “high work ethic”

Department spokesperson Kwanele Ncalane confirmed the Ludidi’s employment, as he added that he was transferred from Cogta in October 2022 in compliance with regulations of public service. Kwanele said:“The department was impressed by his high work ethic and understanding of the supply chain management environment, wherein he presided over a clean audit for three consecutive years. “He has been an SCM director at Cogta for the past five years and was brought in to assist in stabilising the department of Transport’s SCM unit and to deal with the historical negative audit outcomes owing to his sterling work at Cogta.”

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“The department is currently in the process of filling all critical posts to improve its capacity to deliver services to the public. The director SCM, is one of those and it is important in improving compliance and the audit position of the department” He said before the completion of his transfer, all necessary security verifications were done, and the department were unable to find anything prohibiting him from being employed in the public service and anywhere else. Eastern Cape NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali gave confirmation that Ludidi is still an accused in the matter. “Nqaba Ludidi is still an accused in the matter. I have just checked the indictment,” he stated. Weekend Witness reports that Ludidi resigned from the metro while investigations were ongoing on the Mandela scandal. When questioned, Ludidi said: “The department has responded to your media inquiry, and the response is adequate. However, if you have further inquiries, please refer to Mr. Ncalane, head of communication”. The DA’s spokesperson for KZN transport, Sharon Hoosen, said the department (transport) is in crisis. She said they have had four different MECs in the space of four years and the department has incurred more than R28 billion in irregular expenditure. “This employment just reaffirms the corrupt manner and procedures this department continues to exercise. It is becoming a department where fraud and corruption continue to exist while consequence management does not hold any power” “This province will blindly disregard any allegations of fraud and corruption on an individual as long as comrades can survive with redeployment,” Hoosen stated.