Ethekwini appoints Thulani Ntobela to lead city integrity unit

The eThekwini municipality has appointed an interim head to lead the city integrity and investigation unit (CIIU) for six months.

This follows the resignation of the former head, Mbuso Ngcobo, who was the chief whistle-blower in the R320m corruption case against former mayor Zandile Gumede.

The Sunday Times recently reported Ngcobo survived three assassination attempts, including a shooting in 2018, an armed attack at his Inanda home in which his laptop and cellphone were stolen in 2020 and a mysterious car accident in April.

This was shortly after he gave evidence in March in the controversial case in which Gumede is alleged to be the kingpin of a racketeering “enterprise”.

Thulani Ntobela, who replaced Ngcobo in the interim, took office on Monday.

The municipality said Ntobela was the former Mpumalanga provincial police commissioner and “possesses a depth of expertise in general and forensic investigations, having served in the position for five years between November 2009 and October 2014”. 

Among his key responsibilities were crime prevention, human and physical resources and finance management.

“When I took over in 2009, Mpumalanga was the worst-performing province out of the nine provinces. [It was] at the bottom of the league in terms of overall performance. But when I left in 2014, Mpumalanga was ranked second in the country,” said Ntobela.

He holds an LLB from the University of SA and a B.Juris degree from the University of Zululand. He is an admitted advocate of the high court. In 2005, he was appointed the provincial head of detectives in the Western Cape with the rank of major-general. 

He was responsible for all crime detection in 178 police stations. According to the municipality, Ntobela “prides himself [on] conducting quality investigations without fear or favour”. After leaving the police he joined The iFirm Trading and Projects, a forensic investigations company. 

Ntobela was employed as the CEO, where he project-managed investigations, including the fraudulent procurement of 21 roads in the Eastern Cape, the investigation of R300m procurement of prefabricated classrooms in the Eastern Cape and investigations into Covid-19 related procurement in KwaZulu-Natal.

“Ntobela was employed in accordance with the municipal staff regulations gazetted on September 20 2021, in terms of regulation 30, which relates to the appointment of staff on a fixed-term contract. 

“Regulation 30 allows for the city manager to appoint a suitably qualified person or people on fixed-term contract without adhering to the prescribed recruitment, selection and appointment of staff procedures and processes,” the municipality said.

City manager Musa Mbhele said Ntobela had a proven track record in leading forensic investigations, having led critical investigations in both the public and private sector. 

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