Cape Town - A political party in Plettenberg Bay has delivered a petition to the provincial Department of Local Government, urging the MEC to intervene in the municipality, following recent allegations of bribery and corruption among Bitou Municipality officials.
Supporters braved an early afternoon shower to march to the Bitou Municipality building, where they met with an official from the department, who accepted the petition from Ikhwezi Political Movement (IPM) president Nokuzola Kolwaphi.
Asked whether they had approached the council with their concerns before going to the Department of Local Government, IPM spokesperson Sivuyile Nkomo said: “We have lost all faith in the systems of our municipality, due to the implicated people being within the municipality.
“Also, our council has been in chaos ever since the DA and the ANC worked together to remove former mayor Peter Lobese. The council has not sat in a while and, therefore, we have no place to air our grievances.
This is why we have decided to go to the next sphere of government, which is the provincial government, to file this complaint, because this municipality is heading for anarchy.”
Speaking about the petition, acting mayor Sandiso Gcabayi (ANC) said: “South Africa is a democratic society, where everyone has the right to march to express themselves.
“Council is not aware and was not informed of the proposed action, but it would have been better for the group to have arranged for more information on the situation, rather than to act based on emotions and insufficient information.
“Related to this matter, there are court proceedings taking place in the high court and, therefore, it would be appropriate to give space to such processes,” said Gcabayi.
Councillor Bill Nell (DA) said: “The vote of no confidence in mayor Lobese was aimed at isolating the ANC and forcing the municipality into administration in order to break up the established patronage network in Bitou municipality.
“ It has been the DA with the assistance of honest staff members that has caused the forensic investigations. It is also the DA which, as along ago as 2017 laid the first criminal charges, followed by further criminal charges in 2018 and again in 2021.
“The DA in Bitou challenges anyone of these Johnny come latelys to put tangible evidence on the table of what they have, in fact, actually done or achieved to date,” said Nell.
Last week, an affidavit filed in the Western Cape High Court claimed that “a criminal syndicate, operating at the highest level in the Plettenberg Bay (Bitou) Municipality, sought to feast on revenue generated for a sorely-needed housing contract.”
Dr Anele Hammond, representing a company associated with the duly appointed contractor Ukhana Project, said the municipality cancelled the R38m contract after she refused to participate in a corrupt scheme, involving the town's top officials.
Good party secretary general Brett Herron said: “The contract, with a variation order, relates to building 169 houses in Qolweni, a radically under-developed and under-serviced community, on the outskirts of Plettenberg Bay, which is better known as a playground for wealthy tourists on the Garden Route.”
In June, the provincial government received the mandate to take over the controversial Qolweni housing, project following a series of meetings between senior officials from provincial Human Settlements, the Bitou municipal council, and community leaders.
At the time, Human Settlements MEC Tertuis Simmers welcomed the decision by the Bitou council and said the department wanted to ensure there were no further delays in the project.