Update

GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - An apology from District Mayor Memory Booysen on Thursday morning is still very much a topic of discussion. His statement drew further comment from other political leaders in the Knysna area.

Booysen’s apology has to do with an earlier statement in March, which criticised the prosecuting authorities on the way they handled a case in which the Garden Route District Municipality’s Municipal Manager, Monde Stratu, is involved. 

Whereas Booysen strongly sided with Stratu in the earlier statement, accusing the authorities of “tainting the reputation of the two municipalities” through “malicious” action, he now unreservedly apologised for using those words.

Knysna Councillor Susan Campbell of the Knysna Independent Movement called Booysen’s latest statement a “belated apology”, but “a step in the right direction”. 

Campbell was one of the individuals who laid charges relating to the matter back in 2020, when she was chairperson of the Knysna Ratepayers Association.  

Campbell took it a step further in her statement, saying “Booysen must now prove his bona fides by apologising to the Garden Route Corruption Busters (GRCB) for describing them as an ‘astroturfing front group’ and dismissing their extremely serious allegations of financial misconduct against the GRDM Municipal Manager, Mr. Monde Stratu, as ‘frivolous’.”
This matter involves Stratu’s salary scale and is a completely different matter from the current court case in which Stratu is involved. GRCB released an 18-page document asking Bredell to investigate serious allegations against the district municipality. They claimed that Stratu paid himself R850 000 more than the President.

According to GRCB’s secretary, Renette Kumm, Campbell was the whistle-blower who realised that certain gratuity payments made to Stratu were, according to her, illegal under the regulations of the Municipal Systems Act.

“Not only did Mayor Booysen insult the complainants, but under his leadership his council dismissed the detailed and motivated allegations without conducting any investigation whatsoever. In so doing the council defied the Municipal Finance Management Act,” reads the latest statement by Campbell.

“To prove that he is serious about holding Mr. Stratu accountable Mayor Booysen should ensure that his council rescinds its illegal decision and resolves that the allegations against Mr. Stratu should be investigated by the disciplinary board of the municipality.”

Second thoughts

Another political leader released a statement that saw the light for a couple of hours before he retracted it later that same day. Knysna Mayor Aubrey Tsengwa, launched a scathing attack on the DA on Thursday afternoon. 

The press release also included comments about Booysen and Stratu that could prove politically embarrassing for both.

Tswenga obviously had second thoughts and retracted the statement later the same evening. The content of this release has been sent to all the mentioned parties in question for comment.

What next?

With the release of Mayor Booysen’s apology statement, further questions on the Stratu case and his position in the Garden Route District Municipality were sent to the communication team. No feedback has yet been given on the matter.

According to Eric Ntabazalila of the National Prosecuting Authority, the case will be back in the Knysna Regional Court on 20 September. The accused, Stratu, and a former municipal manager of Knysna, Dr Sithemebele Wiseman Vatala, made their first appearance in court on 25 July. 

“Accused one (Vatala) had a new attorney coming on record for him (Sebastian Marx from Mc Williams Attorneys). It was postponed until 20 Sept 2023 for further particulars to be furnished to the defense,” said Ntabazalila.

‘We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news’