Update

GEORGE NEWS - A letter by one of the opposition parties, the PBI, that criticises the way Mayor Leon van Wyk handled allegations against the Municipal Manager, Dr Michele Gratz, is still somewhere in the local government authority's digestive system.

In a letter on 1 February, leader of the PBI Virgill Gericke requested an investigation against Van Wyk for "possible transgression of the code of conduct for councillors".

Speaker Sean Snyman said the process of dealing with the letter is underway and it will be dealt with accordingly. "Alderman Gericke is advised to address his questions to the administration and not through the press," said Snyman.

PBI's Virgill Gericke

Alleged transgressions

Gericke maintains that Van Wyk is trying to protect Gratz against allegations which surfaced last year from individuals who quitted their jobs due to alleged pressure from senior officials. 

The municipal workers union Samwu, too, wrote to the mayor in this regard at the end of October last year.

Samwu's letter was a strongly worded document that contained many unsubstantiated assumptions and has been described as a personal attack on Gratz. The affidavits that contain alleged discriminatory information against Gratz have been made by people who don't work for the municipality any more.

Gericke's main gripe is the fact that these allegations were not tabled by the mayor before Council within seven days of receipt. He now asks for an investigation against the mayor, who he says has breached the code of conduct for councillors by not tabling the allegations in good time; has allegedly submitted his own report on the matter and consulted a law firm which is in fact one of the municipality's own service providers. Gericke states that this hardly provides Council with an "independent" opinion.

"It is not the mayor's job to decide what Council should see and it is not his place to write a report on the matter. He should merely bring any allegations to Council and table it, and let Council decide what should be done," said Gericke.

Asked for comment on all these allegations, municipal spokesperson Chantèl Edwards said no comment will be provided.

Municipal Manager Michele Gratz previously gave detailed feedback on what she calls "unfounded and malicious allegations" in George Herald on 12 October 2022. "This is pushback from those opposed to clean governance and the turn-around strategy currently being implemented at George Municipality," said Gratz.

"I will continue to work uninterruptedly to make George the number one secondary city in the country and will not be deterred by those with personal agendas.

"The time, money and resources spent on investigating these baseless and frivolous allegations, which have been dismissed following an independent and competent investigation, could rather have been spent on addressing the electricity and water challenges which municipalities are currently facing. The improvements in service delivery, upgrades to infrastructure and consecutive clean audits during my tenure speak for themselves."

Background

George Herald covered the story on 26 January when the chair of the DA's Federal Council, Helen Zille, paid a visit to George to give legal advice to the DA caucus. Zille's visit came after a special council meeting on 9 December last year, when the issue of Van Wyk's alleged reluctance to table the accusations against Gratz was not finalised.

A follow-up article on 2 February focused on how the matter might influence the coalition in the council between the DA, Freedom Front Plus and ACDP. Both coalition parties, however, said they would submit to the majority decision. The PBI's letter was fresh on Speaker Snyman's desk, having been delivered on 1 February.

Van Wyk said at the time that all of the allegations made against Gratz were dismissed by Council on Thursday 26 January.

Speaker Sean Snyman

What's next?

Questioned about the next step with regard to Gericke's request for an investigation against Van Wyk, Snyman pointed out that there is no reference to "seven days" in the procedure to be followed on a request for an investigation, as stipulated by the Code of Conduct for Councillors (read the full procedure applicable at www.georgeherald.com). 

The speaker may apply his/her mind and may receive legal advice; documents are submitted to the relevant councillor (the mayor in this case) for response within a designated time frame; the response is then reviewed by the speaker with legal advice and an item is prepared for Council.

Gericke's letter has not yet served before Council.

Other issues

In his letter, Gericke also refers to his struggle to obtain information on the allocation of R205m to SSMEs, which had been announced by Van Wyk during a council meeting. Gericke said he was met with advice from Portfolio Councillor Dirk Wessels to submit an application for access of information. 

Municipal spokesperson Chantèl Edwards said any requests for records from a municipality must be done in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (PAIA). "The act does not make provision for exemption for councillors."

Gericke also questioned why certain financial severance packages have been offered to certain senior managers "with a cloud of allegations of misconduct hanging over them".

He alleges that, in some instances, no investigations were conducted, but still severance settlements are entered into. Municipal feedback is as follows: "George Municipality does not provide comment on personnel-related matters, it must be noted however that severance packages can be applied for without the individual being the subject of any investigation or disciplinary action."

Mayor Leon van Wyk