Bloemfontein - The Northern Cape ANC has accused Cope of shameless hypocrisy in its handling of Springbok municipality matters on Tuesday.
“They continue to undermine the intelligence of our people, to expect our people to believe they did not know of the alleged financial mismanagement,” African National Congress provincial secretary Zamani Saul said on Tuesday.
The Democratic Alliance has asked the police to investigate Nama Khoi municipality manager Aubrey Baartman. It has accused him of theft, fraud and corruption, allegedly involving pension contributions, and violations of the Municipal Finance Management Act.
Northern Cape DA leader Andrew Louw said pension administrators had not received contributions by both municipal officials and the municipality to the Government Employees’ Pension Fund. This was contrary to what was apparently stipulated on payslips, he said in a statement.
Saul said the ANC had raised the matter of the municipal manager’s actions ever since he was appointed by the DA.
A DA-Cope coalition ran the Nama Khoi municipality until the ANC won it back in by-elections held towards the end of 2013.
Saul said the criminal charge brought by the DA amounted to political opportunism and spite.
It was claimed that Baartman had joined the Economic Freedom Fighters, the ANC said.
Louw said a police investigation was the surest way to determine whether there had been any criminal wrongdoing.
“There is no place for corruption in a DA administration,” he said.
The ANC said the DA should take responsibility for its members.
Sapa