It reads like the plot of a crime novel; here we have a picturesque South African town nestling against the backdrop of a majestic mountain range, bordered by ancient yellowwood forests and endless white sandy beaches on the Indian Ocean. Yet this pleasant town conceals a dark underbelly of corruption, where the main accused is none other than the mayor – who denies any wrongdoing.
In true South African style, residents on both sides of the railway track (there really is one running through town) are incensed at the allegations, along with the thinly disguised racial friction, discrimination, BEE and its counterpart WMC.
Then the A-Team arrives in town and, without further ado, seizes the mayor’s phone and car tracking records. These reveal that the first citizen is not only a liar he is also corrupt. Obvious next question: is he a lone ranger? According to the script, no – but there are still a few more pages to be written.
Welcome to George Municipality where the Democratic Alliance has been trying for months to purge itself of fraud, theft, corruption, maladministration, malpractice, undue influence, nepotism, irregular appointments and inflated payments made to service providers.
The latest municipal project under scrutiny is War-on-Waste (WoW), which promised to provide employment through the government’s Expanded Public Works Programme.
The Hawks investigated WoW in 2018 and the results were handed to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) almost a year ago.
With no further action taken by the NPA, Western Cape MEC for Local Government Anton Bredell appointed forensic investigators Anthony Botha and Annelita Mentoor to conduct a further investigation.
Denne historien er fra April 2020-utgaven av Noseweek.
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Denne historien er fra April 2020-utgaven av Noseweek.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Lennie The Liquidator Faces R500,000 Defamation Suit
After losing his cool when his fees were questioned
Panel Beater De Luxe
Danmar Autobody and its erstwhile directors get a serious panel beating in court papers. Corruption and theft are said to have destroyed the firm chaired by Nelson Mandela’s eldest daughter, leaving 200 workers destitute and threatening to kill.
Meet Covid Diarist Ronald Wohlman
Ronald Wohlman – EX SOUTH African copywriter, author, and actor – never dreamt that his lockdown diaries, written on Facebook and followed by people all over the world – would become his “life’s work”.
A Picture Of Peace?
Beware: Appearances can be deceptive
Flogging A (Battery-Driven) Dead Horse
Why plug-in vehicles are not all they’re cracked up to be– and, likely, never will be
Everybody Drinks Corona
I am hesitant to go Into the pub today. Not because it’s illegal, but there is a crème colored 1985 Mercedes 300D parked behind the pine tree. This means the devil is inside; that’s what we call Dr. De Villiers. You don’t know whether you will encounter the good doctor with the charming bedside manner or the violent, bipolar bully. The problem is, most of the time, you can never be sure which it is, so it’s best to always keep a social distance.
Never Take A Hypochondriac To A Pandemic
From Ronald Wohlman’s New York Corona Diary
The money train
Transnet in court battle with liquidators of Gupta-linked audit firm over R57m in ‘corrupt’ payments and invoices
‘He's no pharmaceutical genius, he's a vulture'
Pharma con seeks prison release to ‘help find Covid cure’
Bush school – A memoir
OUR SCHOOL WAS IN THE MIDDLE of the bush, ten miles from the nearest town in the harsh beauty of the Zimbabwean highveld. It started life in World War II as No 26 EFTS Guinea Fowl, a Royal Air Force elementary flying training school and I arrived there in 1954, just seven years after it became an all-white co-ed state boarding school.
