GOOD press statement by Donavan Saptoe,
GOOD: Councillor George Municipality
25 March 2022
GOOD has, today, written to the DA’s Executive Mayor of George Municipality, Cllr van Wyk, to investigate irregular appointments of senior managers within the municipality and allegations that Council was misled in order to conclude these crooked appointments.
Section 5 of the Municipal Systems Act’s Regulations for Disciplinary Matters relating to senior managers demands that “any allegation of misconduct against a senior manager must be brought to the attention of the municipal council.” The Executive Mayor is empowered to request such an investigation and should not hesitate to exercise his powers in pursuit of good governance.
The Regulations further empower Council to institute an investigation within 7 days following the Executive Mayor or Municipal Manager tabling the item before Council.
Specifically, these serious allegations of impropriety include, but are not limited to, the following:
The Acting Municipal Manager, Ms Gratz, appears to have misled to Council to facilitate the appointments of senior managers, Mr Manfred van Rooyen and Mr Cheslin Williams.
The Acting Municipal Manager appears to have colluded with the Director of Community Services, Mr Paulse, to conceal the irregular appointment of the two staff members, and she misled council about the true sequence of events.
At least one of the two employees is alleged to not meet the requirements for the positions that were subsequently created on the staff structure.
Mr Paulse has been a senior manager in a number of municipalities in the Western Cape and these two employees have been appointed to the staff structure wherever he is employed.
The DA vaunts its good governance practices and must give effect to that claim without further delay.
To this end GOOD is also requesting that the Acting Municipal Manager be placed on precautionary suspension pending the finalisation of an investigation conducted by an independent investigator appointed by Council to safeguard the integrity of any investigation given that she is in a position to “jeopardise any investigation into the alleged misconduct” and may “interfere with potential witnesses”.
The DA Mayor’s failure to do so will leave us no choice but to approach other government agencies to ensure that the ratepayers of George Municipality are not hoodwinked into footing the bill for dodgy appointments of “friends and family”.
Media enquiries:
Donavan Saptoe, GOOD: Councillor for George Municipality
Cell: 082 401 2935
Email: dsaptoe64@gmail.com
Samkelo Mgobozi, GOOD: Media Manager
Cell: 0792315977 (WhatsApp)/0829684021 (calls)
Email: samm@forgood.org.za