Statement by Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary General and member of the Western Cape Provincial Legislature
28 July 2021
A dossier of documents leaked to the GOOD Party relating to the alleged abuse of City of Cape Town Covid Food Relief funds includes detailed instructions from Councillor Nora Grose to a middleman to unlawfully transfer R171 778 to Life Changers Church in Table View.
In the email dated 10 July 2020, Grose instructs Ruben Swartz, of non-governmental organisation SARCO, which appears to be the middleman in the scheme, to transfer R171 778 to Life Changers Church. “Ruben soon as the monies are paid into the SARCO both Ward 23: R150k and Ward 113: R21 778 must be transferred to LIFE CHANGERS,” wrote Grose.
It is unlawful for councillors to identify service providers and to direct them in this manner. This email also confirms Grose’s direct involvement in the unlawful transfer of funds to the church.
The dossier of documents also includes:
An email from a Mr Konrad Brettschneider (apparently on behalf of the Life Changers Church), dated 29 September 2020, which declares that the Church did not distribute any food parcels from the Ward 23 allocation, and that the funds were transferred to Councillor Grose; and
A notification of payment indicating that Life Changers Church made a payment from First National Bank in the amount R54 328.06 to the City of Cape Town on 21 May 2021, the day after Grose’s arrest for alleged fraud and money-laundering.
The documents contradict numerous public statements from the City (Mayor Plato, Speaker Purchase and the City’s official social media accounts) insisting that all humanitarian funds were fully accounted for, and that the food relief programme had actually been implemented.
Speaker Felicity Purchase, for example, has been quoted in the media stating that Grose is not implicated in fiddling any humanitarian relief funds, and that “councillors don’t come into contact with any cash in that regard at all”.
If the food relief programme was implemented, and councillors don’t come into contact with cash, why did Brettschneider indicate that the church had not used any of the funds for food relief but transferred the money back to Grose?
“We unfortunately were not in a position anymore to run the food relief fund from our premises, and the management of the food fund for Ward 23 has subsequently been transferred back to Clr Nora Grose,” Brettschneider wrote, in an email dated 29 September 2020.
And if the money had already been transferred to Grose, why, how was it possible for the church to return some of it to the City months later, on the day after Grose’s arrest?
The documents in GOOD’s possession also bring the City’s insistence that it is cooperating with the Hawks’ investigation into serious question – besides raising yet more questions on the lawfulness of the City paying for Grose’s legal defence.
For the City to be cooperating with the criminal investigation, while at the same time covering Grose’s legal fees, is a conflict of interests.
Since the City refuses to answer questions emanating from non-DA Members of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, GOOD Party Secretary-General Brett Herron MPL has addressed public letters to the City Manager, Lungelo Mbandazayo, and Speaker, Felicity Purchase, requesting clarification.
“Having read the bundle of documents I received, the City’s statements appear to be false and raise questions as to whether and how the City is really cooperating with the Hawks investigation. I’ve contacted the Hawks and offered to hand the dossier to their investigators should they not yet be in their possession,” Herron said.
“My interpretation of the City’s statements is that there is a massive cover-up underway. Should this be the case, those obstructing the investigation should also face criminal charges in terms of the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act,” Herron concluded.