Cape Town – The Good party says it has evidence that newly appointed Western Cape MEC of Human Settlements Tertius Simmers had indeed stolen electricity while he was employed as a councillor and Mayco member at the George
Municipality.
The party said evidence had been submitted to its corruption desk that the George Municipality had subsequently attempted to “decriminalise” the theft of electricity to protect him from criminal prosecution.
In a letter sent to DA provincial Premier Alan Winde yesterday, Good Party secretary-general Brett Herron said it had received evidence that Simmers’ electricity meter was tampered with.
The case dates back to 2015, when initial charges against Simmers on the issue were withdrawn.
Herron yesterday charged that municipal officials had discovered evidence of tampering with the electricity meter - diverting the connection to avoid being charged for consumption.
Herron said a tampering fine of R3246 was immediately charged to the account and the fine was paid.
“Subsequent investigations determined that R8345.33 had been
stolen using the tampering scheme. This amount was added to the electricity account in September 2015.
“An amount of R6947.77 was still outstanding on this account as at August 2016 when the deductions from Simmers’ account were halted,” Herron said.
Herron went on to charge that councillors of the George Municipality had sought to amend a policy relating to electrical tampering to prevent the municipal officials from
reporting the crime of electrical theft to
police.
“It would appear that the George Council effectively attempted to “decriminalise” electricity theft to
protect corrupt politicians.
Simmers has refuted claims, citing malicious intent on Herron’s part.
“I did not tamper with the electric meter. It was fully investigated in 2016 and found to be spurious. I reported the tampering to the George Municipality. To this day, we still do not know who paid for the fine. It is unsurprising that two weeks after the Good Party lost in the by-election in George, this old matter is resurfacing.
“These allegations have been brought up in the past by Good Party leader Patricia de Lille when she was still a DA member, and now Mr Brett Herron is seeking to reopen it. There is clear malicious intent on the part of Mr Herron and I will therefore be seeking legal advice,” Simmers said.
Winde’s spokesperson, Bianca Capazorio, said yesterday: “Premier Winde has received the information and will consider the contents thereof.”
When the George Municipality was asked whether it had sought to amend the policy relating to electrical tampering to prevent municipal officials from reporting the crime of electrical theft to SAPS, municipality spokesperson Chantel Edwards-Klose said they could not respond by deadline.