By Bongani Majola
THE City of Johannesburg has fired the director of Arts, Culture and Heritage Services, Maishe Maponya, following an internal disciplinary process.
Maponya was found guilty on charges that include mismanagement, negligence, not following procedure, not complying with tender procedures and "prejudicing the City financially".
Sibongile Mazibuko, the City's chief operating officer, on Friday confirmed Maponya's dismissal, and said it was "regrettable that we have had to terminate one of our senior management contracts".
Mazibuko said the arbitrator "concluded that the relationship between the employer and the employee was irretrievably damaged and thus recommended the termination of his contract".
Maponya, a former writer and academic, was appointed by the city as director in July 2001 and his five-year perfomance-based contract would have expired in June 2006.
The city's internal audit department began investigating the allegations against Maponya, after receiving an anonymous letter alluding to a number of irregularities about the Arts Alive festival.
One of his department's main targets was to revamp the festival "to ensure that the cultural vibrancy of the City is increased", but the City has since outsourced management of this annual event.
