Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning
With regard to his letter to the Cederberg Municipality on 5 March 2020 with reference number 3/11/2/8 (2019/754):
- What are the details of the allegations that were sent to his office, including details of the person or persons who sent them;
- whether the 10-day time frame will be extended given the amount of data requested from the official; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
whether he intends to invoke section 106(1) of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act 32 of 2000), read with other legislation, with regard to a number of allegations of serious irregularities at various municipalities in the province; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
In accordance with the uniform approach to deal with requests for information relating to investigative matters and noting the risks associated with the disclosure of such, being the circumspection and possible meddling, interference and tampering of evidence, it would not be appropriate to provide details on the allegations and make these public at this stage. Furthermore, providing details of the names of whistle-blowers would also not be appropriate given the potential risks associated therewith.
17(2) An extension in this instance will not be necessary as the Municipality has responded to the content of my letter dated 5 March 2020.
17(3) In terms of section 106 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act 32 of 2000) (“the Systems Act”) and the Western Cape Monitoring and Support of Municipalities Act, 2014 (Act 4 of 2014) (“the Western Cape Act”) I, as the Provincial Minister, am obliged, to take actions as described in the above-mentioned legislation, if I have reason to believe that maladministration, fraud, corruption or any other serious malpractice has occurred or is occurring in a municipality in the Province. It is important to note that provincial investigations into allegations of maladministration, fraud, corruption and/or any other serious malpractice are subject to strict Constitutional and statutory parameters before I can invoke my powers in terms of the Systems Act. Therefore, in the context of the latter, if the peremptory statutory requirements are met I will invoke section 106 of the Systems Act.
