Stratu's suspension a 'vindictive political vendetta' - his attorney

Update

GEORGE NEWS - The preliminary suspension of Garden Route District Municipality's (GRDM) Municipal Manager, Monde Stratu, is part of a 'vindictive political vendetta against him'.

This is what Stratu's attorney, Pieter van der Merwe, claims in a letter to the Speaker of the GRDM, Georlene Wolmarans, dated 29 May. Stratu received a notice of precautionary suspension on Tuesday 27 May following a closed session of council earlier that day, when the decision was made.

This follows allegations of possible misconduct pertaining to the roads agency function of the Western Cape's Department of Infrastructure (DoI). The allegations surfaced after an independent external investigation that had been prompted by an earlier review by the DoI, which identified potential irregularities in the GRDM's Roads Department.

Van der Merwe writes that Stratu has been subjected to an unfair process and that he, the GRDM and the taxpayers 'are severely prejudiced by the unlawful suspension'. Stratu had received a notice of intention to suspend on or around 7 May. To this notice, 30 annexures, totalling 180 pages, were attached, of which none specifically dealt with the allegations against him.

Stratu had communicated his concerns about this to the speaker, but received no answer. He then provided written representations within seven days of the notice, as requested, detailing the reasons why he should not be suspended.

According to Van der Merwe, 'the exact alleged actions of misconduct' of which Stratu is being accused cannot be ascertained from the annexures, and he requests the municipality to clearly provide the alleged actions that justify his suspension.

He has instruction from Stratu to file an urgent application to the court to set aside the Council's decision. However, he proposes that the application be enrolled on a 'semi urgent' basis, on the condition that Stratu's suspension is set aside pending the final determination of their review application to set aside the decision. This would avoid burdening an already congested court with an urgent application.

Van der Merwe also points out that Stratu is also the defendant in an action brought by the GRDM in March, "which action is, with respect, not worth the paper it is written on." He foresees that the outcome of this action will lead to 'ultimate embarrassment' for the GRDM.

The GRDM was approached for comment, but Communications Manager Herman Pieters said: "The Garden Route District Municipality Speaker is not commenting on this sub judice matter at the moment, while the GRDM Council awaits the outcome of the independent investigation."

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