Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning

1. The following table records the number of allegations relating to corruption and maladministration received and determined to fall within the mandate of the Provincial Minister responsible for Local Government to assess in terms of section 106 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act during the 2022/2023 financial year:

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, it would not be appropriate to provide details on the allegations and make these public at this stage.

The complaints received are, however, in connection with human resource related allegations, failure to comply with financial management legislation, interference in the administration, supply chain management related allegations and unlawful use of municipal resources allegations.

3. Correspondence in terms of section 5 of the Western Cape Monitoring and Support of Municipalities Act, 2014 (“the Western Cape Act”) has been sent to the relevant Municipality to provide it with an opportunity to provide written representations on any allegations that are being considered for a possible investigation in terms of section 106 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (“the Systems Act”). A pre-investigation assessment is then conducted in order to objectively assess all available information before taking a decision on the necessity for a provincial investigation.

In terms of section 106 of the Systems Act and 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.

Please note that the provisions for a provincial investigation in a municipality are in addition to the monitoring and support functions that the Western Cape Government discharges in the ordinary course on an ongoing basis in accordance with the Constitution, read with applicable legislation. In this regard, the Department of Local Government – together with the assistance, expertise and information provided by a number of other departments in the Western Cape Government, including the Provincial Treasury – objectively assess the status of and challenges facing municipalities within the Western Cape on an ongoing basis, with a view to ensuring that the most appropriate and effective solutions are identified, developed and applied to capacitate and support these municipalities to overcome their respective challenges.