Tshukudu Malatji, a Director for Asset Protection Services at the City of Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD), testified before the Madlanga Commission on Thursday.
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Tshukudu Malatji, the suspended director for asset services protection at the Tshwane Metro Police Department, failed in his attempt to have the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry postpone his testimony on Thursday morning.
Malatji has been accused of failing to act on a superior’s order to terminate an irregularly awarded ad hoc security contract, which resulted in the City of Tshwane losing at least R14 million in unlawful expenditure.
Through his legal representative Sibusiso Nkosi, Malatji complained that he did not have enough time to prepare for his second appearance before the commission.
He requested a postponement, saying he needed to go through documents he received late, including some sent to him on Wednesday just before midnight.
However, the commission refused Malatji’s application for adjournment but gave him at least an hour to review the documents in question.
Nkosi told the commission he had serious predicaments while assisting Malatji in preparing for Thursday's proceeding.
He recounted that he had previously written to the commission asking it to furnish him with the documents
He said Malatji, who is suspended, also had difficulty accessing workplace documents because people expected to assist him were threatened with being charged.
He acknowledged that Malatji did not ask evidence leader Advocate Mpilo Sikhakhane in obtaining the documents.
Adding to his frustrations was the link to a document sent to his client just before Wednesday midnight.
Among the documents he needed to review for his evidence preparation were a 418-page tender document and transcripts of testimony by Major Lebogang Phiri and Tshwane contact analysis.
Nkosi said the commission sent his client's attorney a link to documents by Wednesday midnight and the attorney only saw it on Thursday morning.
"When we had a quick browse on it it was only after we had submitted a supplementary statement," Nkosi.
Sikhakhane said he would not deal with the whole tender document, but rather with the lack of scoring by Malatji when he served on the Bid Evaluation Committee for a security tender worth millions of rands.
Malatji's testimony is under way.
rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za