SIU report "recommends Oudtshoorn be placed under administration"

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

The Special Investigations Unit will present the findings of an investigation into alleged malpractice and corruption in the Oudtshoorn Municipality to the Presidency in the coming weeks.

SIU insiders said the report would be accompanied by a recommendation of administration.

Should the recommendation be implemented, it will be the second time since 2007 that the municipality has been placed under administration.

This recommendation is motivated by 96 files of arch evidence collected by the SIU.

SIU spokesman Boy Ndala said yesterday the report was being finalised but at this stage the unit was not in a position to comment further on its contents.

In August last year the interim SIU report on Oudtshoorn was presented to Parliament, in which it was revealed that duplicate payments to a housing service provider to the tune of R1.7-million had been made.

In addition, there was evidence of fraud and corruption that allegedly implicated the former municipal manager, Noel Pietersen. The former town manager, however, has denied the allegation.

The SIU said it also found evidence of theft from municipal trust funds amounting to more than R530 000.

At the time, Local Government MEC Anton Bredell said the interim SIU report came as a surprise to the Western Cape government, which he believed had been "kept in the dark" about the investigation.

He urged that the final report be made available as soon as possible.

The municipality was placed under administration in March 2007 after acrimonious political battles between the ruling DA and the opposition ANC undermined its ability to deliver services and function administratively.

It was the first council since the 1994 democratic elections to have been placed under administration in the Western Cape.

Yesterday, a source who declined to be named because he is close to the investigation, said the Oudtshoorn Municipality was "in a complete mess".

"I am so glad this step is finally being taken. As a concerned citizen of Oudtshoorn I have been imploring Mr Bredell as well as Afriforum to push the SIU to submit the final report," he said.

"There are so many problems with this municipality, from theft to maladministration and corruption. There are dire straits in Oudtshoorn. There is maladministration from everyone from the top down."

He said there were "people just sitting in their offices" and that meetings were constantly cancelled or postponed because councilors did not bother to attend.

Municipal spokesman Ntobeko Mangqwengqwe said the municipality would only be in a position to comment once it had seen the final report.

(Reporty by John Harvey)