Cape Town - The Good Party has called for a full investigation into all property transactions at Stellenbosch Municipality which took place under the leadership of former property manager Piet Smit.
Smit resigned with immediate effect last week amid serious allegations of irregular tenders and corrupt property deals.
GOOD Party councillor Christie Noble said she would be submitting a motion to the municipality’s speaker demanding a full report that discloses all property transactions that were approved by council, or in terms of any delegations, in which the former manager was involved.
Noble said her party wanted to dig deeper into what she called “a possible pile of corruption”.
Noble said they wanted an independent forensic investigator appointed to investigate and report to council on whether all property transactions, during the former manager’s term of office, were legal and compliant with the Municipal Asset Transfer Regulations and other relevant legislation.
They also want to find out whether there is any prima facie evidence of corruption.
Noble said: “Given that council property is public property which belongs to the people of Stellenbosch, they deserve answers and clarity from those in charge. If there is found to be evidence of corruption and mismanagement, action needs to be taken.”
The next special meeting of the Stellenbosch council is set for June 23 and Noble intends to table the motion at the event.
Contacted for comment municipality spokesperson Stuart Grobbelaar said: “The municipality cannot respond to any internal staff matters in the media.”
In March, Stellenbosch Municipality was also in the spotlight when a report by the public protector found that the appointment of two senior officials at the municipality amounted to maladministration and improper conduct.
The appointments questioned were those of advocate Annalene de Beer as director for strategic corporate services, and Kevin Carolus as the chief financial officer.
The issue with De Beer was that she had been appointed in April 2017 for a 10-year period despite the position having been advertised as a five-year term contract.
With regards to Carolus, the public protector investigated how he had been employed on a permanent basis despite the position having been for a 10-year fixed-term contract.
Stellenbosch municipal manager Geraldine Mettler said the municipality was taken aback by the public protector’s report, which she dismissed as baseless and stemming from a complaint lodged by an aggrieved ex-councillor.
Mettler said: “The matter of the appointment of the director of corporate services dates to 2016 and has repeatedly been found to be nothing more than an unfounded attack on the official employed in this position.
“The municipality received clean and unqualified audits and made enormous progress in our respective directorates under the leadership of the two appointees and the municipal manager.”