Anton Bredell, Western Cape Minister for Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning today said he is in full support of efforts by the Garden Route District Municipality to recover irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

“I want to thank recently elected Mayor Stroebel and his team for their commitment to resolving this issue. We agree that it needs to be addressed so that the municipality can focus on their core mandate and the residents of the Garden Route District.”

The provincial Department of Local Government concluded that the Municipality had incurred irregular and fruitless and wasteful expenditure to the amount of R6,683,107.58 for payments made to senior officials over a period of several years.

In a letter to the Speaker, Minister Bredell sets out the background and legal processes that has been followed up to date:

A notice of intention to intervene in terms of Section 139(1) of the Constitution was issued on 24 May 2024 to the Garden Route District Municipality. The notice confirmed that the Department of Local Government (“DLG”) has conducted an assessment on payments made to the relevant officials in excess of the waiver approval and the applicable upper limits of the remuneration packages of senior managers.

In terms of the above notice, the Municipality was accordingly afforded and requested to consider the content of the notice and revert to the Minister with their written comments and intended action in respect of recovering the irregular payments made to affected senior officials.

The Provincial Executive of the Western Cape Government, after due consideration of the Municipality’s response and evidence before it, resolved to intervene in the Municipality in terms of section 139(1) of the Constitution.

Hereto, the Provincial Executive noted the Municipality’s unwillingness to fulfil its executive obligations. This in particular, included the obligation to recover irregular and fruitless and wasteful expenditure, imposed on all municipalities by section 32(2) of the Municipal Finance Management Act and any loss or damage suffered by it because of the deliberate or negligent unlawful actions of certain individuals in accordance with section 176(2) of the Municipal Finance Management Act.

To this extent, the Municipality has not taken reasonable measures to remedy the failure and fulfil its executive obligations. Moreover, the Municipality has neglected to promptly recover the undue amounts from those implicated to have received such funds. In failing to do so, the Municipality has therefore breached its executive obligations.

In accordance to the Provincial Executive’s decision to intervene, a directive has been issued to the Municipality in accordance with section 139(1)(a) of the Constitution to address and deliver to the implicated recipients of payment(s) in excess of the waiver approval and the applicable upper limits of the remuneration packages of senior managers a letter demanding that they repay the money to the Municipality, failing which, without further notice to them, the Municipality must institute litigation proceedings against the affected senior officials.

Contact:
Wouter Kriel
Spokesperson for Minister Anton Bredell
Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning
079 694 3085
Wouter.kriel@westerncape.gov.za