Open letter to the Executive Mayor of Rand West City Local Municipality

Dear Executive Mayor, Cllr William Matsheke,

It is time to come clean and enlighten the residents, who have a right to know what is happening in this Municipality.

It has come to our attention through three whistle-blowers that the appointment of 10 Traffic Wardens by the Municipality was not conducted in a fair manner. In fact, there are allegations of significant corruption relating to these appointments.

The whistle-blowers approached the Democratic Alliance (DA) to request an urgent investigation into this matter.

The allegations are as follows:

1. The appointments were made through corrupt means. Although these posts were advertised, close family members were ultimately appointed. These family members are known to the DA.
2. The interview panel allegedly consisted of close relatives of some interviewees. If true, this is highly irregular.
3. This matter was reported to the Municipality, yet it is allegedly being kept quiet. It is further alleged that the Municipal Manager (at the time) and the Executive Mayor were aware of the whistle-blower letter. If true, this directly implicates the two officials mentioned above and may also place them in contravention of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, which imposes an obligation on any person who is aware of corrupt activities to report them to the relevant authorities.

The fact that these posts were advertised to the public, only to have them allegedly awarded to family members and friends, is an insult to residents who had hoped to be employed in these positions.

Furthermore, the fact that the whistle-blower letter was allegedly kept quiet by the relevant management further demonstrates a continuing culture of cover-ups within this Municipal Administration.

Answers required from the Executive Mayor

1. Who was appointed following the interview process? Please provide full details.
2. Were any relatives appointed to these positions? If so, please provide full details. If not, please provide the relevant details confirming this.
3. Please provide the names of all members who served on the interview panel. Were any of these members related to the interviewees?
4. Were the:

(a) Executive Mayor; and

(b) Municipal Manager

aware of the whistle-blower letter? If so, when did each of them become aware of it?

Should the Executive Mayor fail to respond positively to this letter within seven days of receipt, the DA will take further action to get to the bottom of these allegations.

We will not stand by and allow corruption and nepotism to reign freely in our City.

Residents deserve much better than this and, as the DA, we will demonstrate our seriousness in rooting out corruption.

If the ANC Executive Mayor is serious about rooting out corruption in Rand West City, he will make every effort to investigate this matter so that residents can also see that the ANC, like the DA, will neither hide nor tolerate corrupt activities.