Statement from Brett Herron, Member of the Western Cape Legislature and GOOD Secretary-General
8 April 2021
GEORGE COUNCILLOR WHO DID MUNICIPAL BUSINESS WITH HIS SON FOUND GUILTY BUT SAVED BY HIS DA COLLEAGUES
The DA’s executive councillor for finance in George, who transferred R350m of the town’s funds from one financial institution to another, earning his son more than R150 000 in commission, will not be fired as recommended by the Municipality’s Disciplinary Committee.
Nor will Councillor DL (Stag) Cronje step aside from his duties despite his scheme also being under investigation by both the Hawks and Public Protector.
Instead, in a pre-Easter sitting last Thursday, Cronje’s colleagues in the DA-led council quietly voted to save his job and dock him just a single month’s salary.
Considering that the councillor’s salary is less than his son earned in commission, despite the municipality’s finding of unlawful conduct the family has made an overall profit from its shady nepotistic scheme.
The DA preaches accountability and demands it from other parties. Yet it has repeatedly protected Cronje since 2017 when the unlawfulness was perpetrated.
Five years later, last Thursday, the George Council tabled the findings of the town’s DC, finding Cronje guilty of acting unlawfully and proposing that the council asks MEC Bredell to remove him from office.
The council accepted the DC’s report, but changed the sanction from Cronje’s removal to the docking of a month’s salary – a slap on the wrist.
If the DA doesn’t choose to hold its own accountable it would do well to explain how this case differs from that of the former President, his son and certain business interests – from whom it rightly insists on maximum accountability should they be found to have committed unlawful acts, as Cronje has.
If the DA has any integrity it will remove Cronje from the George Council without delay.
* GOOD Leader Patricia De Lille lodged a complaint with the Public Protector on the Cronje scheme in February 2019. It has recently been reported that the Hawks are also investigating.