STATEMENT BY BRETT HERRON, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF GOOD AND MEMBER OF THE WESTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL PARLIAMENT
24 June 2021
A document has surfaced showing that Life Changers Church in Table View has quietly paid back R54 328.06 of the R171 778 in Covid food relief funds it irregularly and indirectly received from the City of Cape Town.
The money was evidently returned to the City last month, the day after Cape Town Sub-Council Chairperson and senior DA Councillor Nora Grose’s arrest and court appearance in connection with fraud.
It is alleged that on Grose’s instruction Life Changers Church received R171 778 through an elaborate scheme involving a middleman organisation, SARCO, to launder the funds and hide their intended destination.
A few days prior to Grose’s arrest, I wrote an open letter to Mayor of Cape Town Dan Plato, who happened to launch his bid to represent the DA as its mayoral candidate in October’s election at Life Changers Church.
I asked the Mayor to come clean on allegations that the City and some of its senior councillors were under investigation by the Hawks for fraud and money-laundering related to the illegal diversion of Covid-19 Food Relief funds to a church in Table View.
The City immediately responded with a statement claiming that my letter was “misinformation” and that, “all funds spent on humanitarian relief are fully audited, allocated 100% in line with the City’s supply chain process”.
A few days later, the mayor shamelessly repeated this lie on ENCA and denied the existence of any investigation.
Unanswered questions abound:
With Grose due back in court tomorrow for the second time how does the mayor explain his denial on national television that anything was under investigation?
If all the City’s Covid funds were accounted for, why did the church pay back just R54 328.06?
What happened to the rest of the money?
Was it pure coincidence that the mayor’s campaign for re-election was launched at the same house of prayer?
It is time for the Mayor to take citizens into his confidence and explain both the alleged criminality and apparent conflict of interests.
Ends…