Good Party leader, Patricia de Lille, on Thursday handed over a dossier to the office of the Public Protector in Cape Town.
The documents contain allegations of corruption in the Democratic Alliance (DA) run George Municipality.
De Lille says an investment and kickback scheme similar to the VBS Bank corruption scandal was operated in the Southern Cape a few years ago. She says the Western Cape government did not take any action in the matter.
4 April 2019: Statement by Patricia de Lille, leader of GOOD:
VBS-STYLE CORRUPTION EXPOSED IN THE SOUTHERN CAPE DA-run municipality shields implicated councillor and son. pic.twitter.com/Iad1BZMLRF
— Patricia de Lille (@PatriciaDeLille) April 4, 2019
De Lille says there’s paper trail showing that over R300 million from the George Municipality was invested in a fund without due process being followed. The investment company, however, returned the money after noticing transaction irregularities.
De Lille says the money was later reinvested in institutions such as banks to garner interest, and a councillor’s son allegedly helped himself to R400 000.
Part of the dossier is an independent forensic investigation which made findings and recommendations including that action be taken against the councillor. De Lille says this has not happened.
“My name has become synonymous with fighting corruption, and people trust me with information and I brought the complaint to the public protector because people were asking questions as to why no action has been taken against this councillor and then they gave me the information. So I will protect them and I’ve given all the necessary information to the public protector,” says De Lille.
The Public Protector’s office says the information will be put before its committee.
“The process, like we do with all complaints, we take quite some time to access and evaluate the facts and what has been put before us. Also the legal situation and then we usually make a decision whether this issue is validated or it’s not going to be duplicated and allocate it to one of the advocates in the office to take further,” says Sunè Griesel from the office of the Public Protector in Western Cape.
Meanwhile, the Western Cape Local Government Department says it’s aware of the allegations and a the matter has already been reported to the Hawks. It says the municipality also appointed a forensic firm to investigate.
