This article first appeared in the 1 July 2022 edition of the Cape Argus newspaper.
Cape Town - The ANC in Theewaterskloof Municipality has accused DA councillors of covering-up allegations of corruption and other wrongdoing against senior DA members and officials on the council, and using the Local Government MEC Anton Bredell’s office to fight their battles.
Theewaterskloof council’s ANC whip Raymond Nongxaza said the ANC would lodge a formal complaint with the police about corruption at the municipality involving the previous DA-led administration and cadre deployment.
Nongxaza singled out former Mayco member and current DA constituency chairperson Martie Koegelenberg, whom he accused of overstepping her powers and attempting to influence the processes at the municipality.
Both the ANC and the DA are engaged in tit-for-tat allegations of corruption in Theewaterskloof Municipality with each party accusing members of the other of corrupt activities.
On Monday, Koegelenberg accused ANC Mayco members on the council of spending more than R4.3 million on VIP security, claiming their lives had been threatened.
She said: “This expenditure was not authorised by the council. We do note that the matter is on the council agenda, but it has not yet been served in any council sitting, because an investigation into the matter must still be concluded.”
In May, MEC Bredell wrote to the municipality giving officials there a deadline to respond to a letter in which he informed them that he was in possession of damaging information and gave them a chance to respond.
The allegations against the municipality in Bredell’s letter, which were leaked on social media, were about the payment of acting allowances to municipal staffers, the irregular appointment of nine people and the suspension of deputy director of finance Francois van der Westhuizen as well as that of supply chain management manager Ashley Hendricks.
At the time, mayor Kallie Papier took issue with the leaking of Bredell’s letter and said it was a concern as it created distrust between the municipality and the department.
“As I respect the processes and rights of the municipality and its employees, I will not comment on the recent suspensions of staff members.”