Kagiso Lerutla, the man whose arrest for Ekurhuleni corruption shenanigans surprised many at the weekend, was recently promoted to municipal manager — a role he was given to bring about good governance.
Lerutla, 40, was arrested on Sunday on charges of fraud, corruption and defeating the ends of justice. He joined his colleague, deputy chief of police Julius Mkhwanazi, who was arrested the day before on the same charges. Their arrest was preceded by that of an unnamed information and communication technology employee. All three appeared at the Boksburg magistrate’s court on Monday.
Also on Monday, Mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza appointed Tsholofelo Koopedi as acting city manager.
While Mkhwanazi’s name had been cast as the main character involved in the alleged corruption within the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department, nothing much is known about Lerutla except for him surviving a shooting incident in 2023.
Lerutla, who had been Ekurhuleni CFO since 2019, beat off 142 candidates who had applied for the municipal manager’s post last year. This was attributed to “demonstrating exceptional competence across all areas of leadership, governance, and strategic management”, the city said in a statement announcing his appointment in October last year.
At the time, the city pinned its hopes of better governance on him.
“This appointment marks a renewed chapter in the city’s journey toward good governance, institutional stability and service delivery excellence. Mr Lerutla’s proven leadership, financial expertise, and reformist approach position him as the right candidate to steer Ekurhuleni toward sustainable growth and ethical administration,” read the announcement.
Lerutla is a qualified chartered accountant with more than 13 years of senior leadership experience in public finance, governance and institutional reform. He holds an MBA from Regenesys Business School, a BCom (Honours) in accounting from the University of Johannesburg, and a BCompt degree from the University of Limpopo.
He joined the municipality in 2014 as divisional head in governance and compliance with the finance department. His promotion to the CFO role in 2019, at the age of 33, was met with much fanfare, with mayor Mzwandile Masina describing him as a “rising star”.
Before joining Ekurhuleni, Lerutla served at the Auditor-General of SA as assistant audit manager, and audit manager.
During his tenure as CFO, Ekurhuleni achieved three consecutive clean audits.
In September 2023, Lerutla was ambushed by unknown gunmen while driving in Primrose. His hand was injured when he tried to block the bullets.
A case of attempted murder was opened.
Police and six sources from the municipality confirmed the shooting and that Lerutla had reported to work afterwards with a bandaged hand. At the time Lerutla told Sowetan he did not want to talk about the matter.
Sowetan
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