Cape Town – ActionSA has filed criminal charges against Rustenburg Municipal Manager, Advocate Ashmar Khuduge, citing allegations of fraud and corruption related to his role as the municipality’s accounting officer.
In a statement, ActionSA Councillor Ofentse Kombe confirmed that the party would be laying criminal charges for financial misconduct, as defined under the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).
According to ActionSA, the charges stem from several failures by the Municipal Manager to fulfil his duties as the municipality’s accounting officer. These include:
- Failure to prevent unauthorised expenditure amounting to R10.4 million in legal fees.
- Irregular expenditure of more than R335.2 million in payments the Municipal Manager allegedly failed to prevent. These irregularities reportedly stem from tenders that bypassed transparent and competitive bidding processes.
📆 Tomorrow, @HermanMashaba, Dr Mbahare Kekana and @Cllr_Nkashe will lay criminal charges against the Rustenburg Municipal Manager for fraud and corruption.
They will be joined by @MikaNgobeni MP, @KwenaMangope MPL and Ofentse Kombe in support of this critical step to root out… pic.twitter.com/zhFVXjBQzz
— ActionSA (@Action4SA) July 29, 2025
- Non-compliance with procurement regulations and alleged abuse of power, particularly in relation to a service provider contract that unlawfully exceeded the 36-month limit.
“We are further concerned that the municipality has failed to investigate these serious allegations, as required by section 171(4) of the MFMA.
“This inaction fosters a culture of impunity, causes significant reputational harm, and undermines public confidence in local governance.
“ActionSA believes that these are not isolated lapses but rather constitute clear financial misconduct in terms of the Municipal Finance Management Act and must now be addressed by the relevant law enforcement agencies. We have also forwarded these,” said Kombe.
⌛️ It’s time to fix Rustenburg!
Today, we laid charges against the actions of Adv. Ashmar Khuduge, the Municipal Manager of Rustenburg Local Municipality, for financial misconduct according to the Municipal Finance Management Act!
The charges laid relate to the following… pic.twitter.com/xZhoMp2Qwi
— ActionSA (@Action4SA) July 30, 2025
Speaking outside the Rustenburg Police Station, Councillor Kombe explained the motivation behind ActionSA’s decision to lay charges, stating:
“We are here today, to say that we are standing up for the people of Rustenberg.
“We are standing up for the municipality.
“We are standing up for Northwest, and indeed we will fix South Africa. So today we are here to lay criminal charges – something that should’ve been done by the passive council of the Rustenburg local municpality.
“But no other party is willing to stand up, but ActionSA.
“I thank you,” said Kombe
ActionSA concluded by expressing concern over alleged obstruction by the Speaker and affirmed its commitment to fighting corruption, announcing plans to approach the Public Protector to ensure accountability and prevent any cover-up of financial misconduct.
“We are further concerned that, despite attempts to bring this matter before Council, the Speaker has obstructed efforts to hold the administration accountable.
“As a result, ActionSA will file an urgent complaint with the Public Protector to ensure that allegations of financial misconduct, fraud and corruption are not swept under the carpet.
“ActionSA has declared corruption as public enemy number one and remains committed to rooting it out wherever acts of impropriety occur.
“We will ensure that implicated officials and individuals are held fully accountable,” concluded ActionSA.
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Compiled by Anda Tolibadi
