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By Sihle Mavuso 
12h ago
Johannesburg – The mayor of Ekurhuleni, Mzwandile Masina, denied the allegations that he outsourced the writing of his doctoral thesis to one of his speech writers, who allegedly becomes his researcher.
The accusations were made amid a bitter fight between Malaika Mahlatsi, the speech writer at Masina’s office, and her ex-boyfriend.
Mahlatsi’s ex-boyfriend, over the weekend, allegedly threatened to present evidence that Mahlatsi was helping Masina.
The accusation came to light on Monday night when Mahlatsi wrote on Facebook that her ex-boyfriend was making false claims about academic work and then deactivated her Facebook account.
Masina issued a statement yesterday refuting the allegations. He said that he himself was working on the thesis.
“The executive mayor’s office would also like to clarify the following information on claims that Mahlatsi is pursuing a doctorate on behalf of the executive mayor,” Masina’s office said.
“The executive mayor is in the initial stage of preparing his research proposal for a PhD in philosophy.
“At no time has any person authored or contributed to the content of the research proposal, including anyone who was reviewing or reviewing the material. The executive mayor has and continues to adhere to the institution’s code of student conduct. “
Before deactivating his Facebook account, Mahlatsi claimed that he was not writing, but corrected Masina’s academic work after the mayor asked him to do so. She also said that her ex-boyfriend may have seen the job while using her laptop.
However, the city of Ekurhuleni later announced that it would suspend Mahlatsi with full payment, while investigating allegations that it discredited the mayor by recklessly using social media.
“The executive mayor’s office has noted with great concern the circulation of an alleged audio recording of Ms. Mahlatsi on social media, in which she claims that the executive mayor reduced the salaries of staff members in the municipality without query. The claims are false and factless, ”the city said.
“The executive mayor, when deciding to donate 33% of his salary to the Solidarity Fund, consulted the council speaker, the whip chief, the members of the mayor’s committee, the city manager, the group’s chief financial officer and to all department heads to encourage them to join him and President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to contribute to the fund. “
By insisting that no one was coerced, the City said the aforementioned public representatives and elected officials had signed commitment forms authorizing the City’s human resources department to deduct a portion of their wages and redirect donations to the Solidarity Fund .
“The executive mayor does not have the authority to lower municipal staff salaries,” the city said in a statement.
Political Bureau
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