Cape Town - ANC MPL and leader of the opposition in the legislature Cameron Dugmore is demanding that Premier Alan Winde fire Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell for a breach of the Executive Members Act.
Dugmore has also lodged a complaint against Bredell with the public protector.
“We have a litany of examples where we believe that Bredell has not acted to his constitutional and legal mandate, has acted in a biased party political manner and has tended to make decisions which favour one faction in the DA over another,” Dugmore said.
“We are calling on Premier Winde to immediately suspend MEC Bredell pending the investigation by the public protector.”
Translating from a copy of a May 2018 letter written in Afrikaans, Dugmore said: “Bredell writes to the councillors: You are requested in a friendly way not to proceed with this appointment before you receive permission from the federal office of the DA (FedEx).”
Dugmore said: “I am shocked that an MEC for Local government, writing in his capacity as chairperson of the DA, is telling the municipality not to go ahead with an appointment until the FedEx actually approves it. I think it’s disgraceful and we refer to the provision in the code of conduct which we believe Bredell has breached."
Local Government Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell. Photo: African News Agency (ANA)
He said that in the letter Bredell said the appointments must be signed off by the FedEx.
“What we pick up here is that this is actually a trend and FedEx itself is signing off or insisting they must sign off on appointments.”
Dugmore said Bredell’s order to the municipality was also in contravention of a letter from local government head of department Graham Paulse, written in April 2018, in which Paulse queried the recruitment and selection of a director for corporate services for George Municipality with regard to its Employment Equity targets.
ANC chief whip Pat Lekker accused the DA of being hypocritical.
“As the ANC in the legislature, we have committed ourselves to expose the DA for what we perceive as cadre deployment. In the legislature we raised the issue of Piet Pretorius as the deputy speaker from the DA in the fifth administration. He has now been appointed as a consultant in the legislature. When we raised the issue and termed it cadre deployment, the speaker continued to duck and dive.”
Winde’s spokesperson, Bianca Capazorio, said: “Premier Winde has not received any official complaint or evidence of wrongdoing at this stage. He is, however, on record as saying that if any member of his Cabinet is the subject of a bona fide investigation, he will consider all the facts at his disposal and thereafter will determine an appropriate way forward.”
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