GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - An investigation the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) had commissioned into the Western Cape Department of Infrastructure's (DoI) findings regarding the municipality's management of its roads department found no evidence of misconduct or mismanagement by municipal officials.
George Herald confidentially received a copy of the report that was tabled in committee at a district council meeting on Thursday 26 June.
Earlier this year, the department did an assessment of the provincial roads function, delegated to the GRDM, for the period 1 April to 31 August 2024. In a closed meeting in April, Infrastructure Minister Tertuis Simmers discussed the department's findings during a visit to the municipality.
At the time, his spokesperson, Melt Botes, confirmed there was prima facie evidence of mismanagement and said an independent investigation into possible fraud will be conducted.
Shortly after Simmers' visit, Garden Route Mayor Andrew Stroebel said in a statement the findings the minister had shared at the meeting focused on the performance, efficiency and possible irregularities concerning the GRDM's roads department.
He said he welcomed these findings as he, being part of the new political leadership, wanted clean governance.
The GRDM-commissioned report identified some systemic inadequacies and proposed administrative reforms to address these.
In response to a request for comment from the municipality regarding the report, the head of communications, Herman Pieters, said the municipality does not provide comment on matters discussed in committee as these are confidential.
"The unauthorised disclosure of these documents to the public constitutes a serious breach of the Code of Conduct applicable to both councillors and municipal employees. It also undermines the ethical standards and integrity expected of public officials and employees entrusted with sensitive information."
He said a statement will be issued once the process has concluded.
District roads management over to province
The roads agency function will be moved from all the district municipalities in the Western Cape to the provincial DoI from 1 April 2026, which will then have complete control over the province's roads. This was also announced by Simmers during his visit to the GRDM in April.
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