Garden Route Corruption Busters leaves another call card

GEORGE NEWS - Garden Route Corruption Busters (GRCB) has asked MEC Anton Bredell to ensure that the allegations of financial misconduct and offences against the Garden Route municipal manager, Monde Stratu, are investigated as a matter of urgency, and that all appropriate steps are taken.

In a statement this week, they claim that Stratu paid himself R850 000 more than the President.

GRCB secretary Renette Kumm described their group as voluntary, consisting of mostly retired women from diverse backgrounds including accounting, legal, business and municipal, living in the Garden Route.

Almost a year ago, in May 2022, the group released an 18-page document asking Bredell to investigate serious allegations against the district municipality.

Sticking to their guns
GRDM Mayor Memory Booysen said it is important to reiterate that the position of the GRDM Council has not changed. "The allegations that were presented to the council were thoroughly examined and subsequently dismissed as malicious and lacking in substance by unanimous agreement among all parties," he said. "The outcome of the council's decision was communicated to all relevant parties, including the MEC for Local Government in the Western Cape. It should be once again noted that the evidence presented to Council exonerated the MM and all others mentioned in the allegations. As far as the GRDM Council is concerned, this matter is now closed.

"Repeatedly sharing the same allegations with the media does not make it the truth. Questioning the independence, competency and transparency of the Auditor General and the GRDM Audit Committee bodies is once again done with political interests without clear evidence of justification."

Campbell on the move
In their latest statement the GRCB reveals a member of their group, Susan Campbell, who is a Knysna councillor (Knysna Independent Movement) as the whistle-blower. According to Kumm it was Campbell who realised that the gratuity payments made to Stratu were "illegal under the regulations of the Municipal Systems Act".

"She then examined the Annual Financial Statements of the municipality and discovered that in addition to the gratuity, Stratu had illegally paid himself R3,8m more than the upper limits between April 2017 and April 2022," reads their statement.

The GRCB submitted a complaint to Mayor Memory Booysen on 17 May last year. A second complaint was submitted on 26 March this year, said Kumm, who claims they have yet to hear from the mayor.

In an earlier media statement by the GRDM, they called the GRCB a "front group that is backed by a handful of politically affiliated individuals" and accuse them of "astroturfing". Kumm said Campbell is the only politician in their group and belongs to a number of organisations.

"The Garden Route Corruption Busters is not a 'front group' for any organisation or group. It is exactly what its name says. Every citizen or organisation has a right to report unlawful conduct. And the council had a duty to investigate our complaint, regardless of the identity of the complainants," said Kumm.