GOOD Statement by Keagen Gertse,
GOOD Drakenstein Councillor & Mayoral Candidate
15 September 2026
The GOOD Party calls on the DA-led Drakenstein Municipality to open its books and subject its recruitment processes to an internal audit to determine the extent of family relationships among municipal employees.
Over several years, the GOOD Party has received multiple complaints alleging nepotism and preferential treatment involving family members within Drakenstein Municipality. And GOOD believes these allegations cannot simply be brushed aside.
GOOD is again calling on the municipality to release to Council the register in which prospective employees and new applicants declare whether they have family members employed within the municipal administration.
If the DA-led administration has nothing to hide, then transparency should not be a problem.
GOOD has raised this matter before, and we will continue pushing for an internal audit that scrutinises recruitment and appointments, including the extent of family relationships within the municipal workforce and whether proper recruitment procedures were followed.
We have repeatedly received complaints from prospective applicants who say they remain on the municipality’s database and apply for vacancies year after year, only to be unsuccessful.
GOOD acknowledges that being placed on the municipal database does not automatically guarantee employment. But when thousands of people are looking for work, while vacancies continue to arise within the municipality, the administration has
a responsibility to ensure that every appointment can withstand public scrutiny.
On 6 June 2025, GOOD demanded a probe into allegations from a whistleblower that a list of interviewees containing information about the partners of municipal employees was allegedly provided to employees so that they could identify their partners. According to the allegation, some of these partners were subsequently permanently employed in the Department of Social Development.
These are allegations and must be properly investigated. But ignoring them is not an acceptable response. If there is nothing untoward happening, an independent internal audit should be easy to establish to address these allegations.
What is particularly concerning is the impact that allegations of nepotism have on the morale of municipal employees and prospective applicants. When people believe that connections matter more than competence, it does not only undermine trust in the recruitment process. It demoralises hardworking employees and pushes capable talent out the door before they even get an opportunity at Drakenstein.
The DA-led administration repeatedly presents Drakenstein as a municipality committed to good governance, clean administration and sound decision-making. GOOD challenges them to prove it.
GOOD cannot understand why an administration that prides itself on transparency would resist releasing a register that could help verify whether conflicts of interest and family relationships are properly declared.
This is not about targeting municipal employees who happen to have relatives working for the municipality. Family members can be qualified and legitimately appointed.
This is about whether everyone gets a fair shot, whether recruitment processes are followed, whether conflicts of interest are properly declared, and whether appointments can withstand scrutiny.
The people of Drakenstein deserve to know that municipal jobs are awarded on merit, not on who you know, who you are related to, or who you are connected to GOOD will not allow allegations of nepotism to become another dirty little secret buried inside the DA-led administration.
If the DA has nothing to hide, it should have nothing to fear from scrutiny.
GOOD demands absolute transparency. Anything less is unacceptable.
Media Enquiries: media@forgood.org.za