Why are so few councillors privy to forensic report on corruption at Bitou Municipality?
The letter below was received by CX-PRESS on Monday and is followed by a response from Bitou ward councillor Dave Swart
I understand from correspondence emanating from the Plett Ratepayers Association that the forensic report into corruption within Bitou Municipality, produced early in 2019, has been referred by MEC Anton Bredell to certain local councillors for comment.
This report was supposed to be circulated to all 13 Bitou councillors. However, it was only forwarded to the mayor and his mayoral committee, which consists of himself and the six ANC councillors.
None of the opposition DA councillors has had sight of it, despite ward councillor Dave Swart having repeatedly demanded the report.
MEC Bredell has been advised of the situation and has been given the email addresses of all councillors, yet to date, he has for reasons best known to himself not circulated the report to the DA councillors.
It is obvious why the mayor and the ANC councillors do not want the forensic report circulated, but why does MEC Bredell refuse to share it with our opposition councillors?
And why do the DA councillors, other than Dave Swart, not stand up for their rights and demand access to the report, both from Bitou s speaker and MEC Bredell?
Are they all fast asleep? Do they appreciate that they should be acting at all times in the interests of Bitou ratepayers?
There is a local government election next year, and I think our DA councillors need to publicly demonstrate a lot more energy, activity and opposition to the ongoing wasteful and irregular expenditure taking place within Bitou Municipality if they are to be considered worthy candidates to stand for election for the DA in 2021. B Knight, Plett
Bitou ward 2 Dave Swart comments:
I cannot answer as to why minister Bredell has not sent the DA councillors a copy of the report, and can only assume it may have something to do with following the correct protocol. To my knowledge, it has been sent to Bitou Municipality for circulation to councillors.
During a DA caucus meeting on December 16, this matter was discussed and I asked the mayor via WhatsApp during this meeting when we would receive our copy.
He replied that it had been sent to the speaker’s office and that I should contact him in this regard, which I did on the same day; I learnt that it was being sent to our legal department for an opinion, after which feedback would be given at the next council meeting on January 31.
I don’t know if the forensic report has been circulated to anyone else since, but have been advised by the municipality that it has been referred to a local legal firm for an opinion. This prompted me to express my dissatisfaction at not receiving a copy and to express this sentiment on my personal Facebook page.
This post was approved by our caucus leader and other DA councillors, who have also shared my comments to their contacts – so these DA councillors are indeed making their dissatisfaction clear.
• Visit ‘Councillor Dave Swart’ on Facebook to see the original post and comments from Plett residents and other interested parties. A copy of P Knight’s letter was sent to the office of minister Anton Bredell, but no comment was received by going to print.