Cape Town – Senior officials at George Municipality have been implicated in a probe into alleged maladministration, fraud and corruption.
Local government, environmental affairs and development planning MEC Anton Bredell said yesterday that investigators had completed the first phase of their probe relating to the “War-on-Waste Project”.
“A comprehensive report containing findings and recommendations was made available to the municipality this morning (yesterday) for consideration and appropriate action against implicated persons, which includes senior officials,” he said.
Bredell said he had requested George council speaker Gerrit Pretorius to provide a copy of the report to the council, which in turn would be required to provide him with feedback on the intended actions next month.
Bradell tasked the department of local government in the province to conduct the investigation in September.
“I had reason to believe that maladministration, fraud and corruption had occurred at George Municipality and accordingly I designated investigators to probe the various allegations.
“This step was taken in terms of section 106 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 32 of 2000, read with section 7 of the Western Cape Monitoring and Support of Municipalities Act, 4 of 2014,” Bredell said.
Responding to questions about the probe, the municipality said: “George Municipality speaker Gerrit Pretorius confirms that his office has received the documentation.
“It has been forwarded to the municipality’s legal team, who will act and respond accordingly.
“As this falls within the legal domain, the George Municipality will make no
further comment in this regard at this stage. The document is to be submitted to the council,” it said.
In 2018, the Hawks swooped on a number of municipal offices in George, business premises and private homes during a search-and-seizure operation, following allegations of fraud and corruption in procurement processes, as well as the awarding of tenders by the municipality.