Steenhuisen defends mismanagement of Oudtshoorn

24 October 2021

The leader of the DA, John Steenhuisen, has responded to damning Public Protector findings of constitutional and ethical breaches in his party’s handling of corruption in Oudtshoorn by stating that the municipality has “made great strides”.

Steenhuisen clearly needs schooling in executive ethics and integrity, and how they relate to technical auditing compliance.

In two years, three executive members of the DA’s so-called “government of integrity” in the Western Cape (one of them twice) have been found to have breached the Executive Ethics Act – including the Premier.

But still Steenhuisen doesn’t get it.

Taking to Twitter over the weekend, hours after the Public Protector ordered President Cyril Ramaphosa to act on Premier Allan Winde’s constitutional and ethical breaches – and Winde to act on MEC Anton Bredell, whose actions lacked good faith and were not in the interests of good governance – Steenhuisen piped up to claim his party had stopped wasteful expenditure.

“Stopping wasteful expenditure is good. But compliance with financial management legislation shouldn’t be something to celebrate once a year, like Christmas; it should be the norm,” said GOOD Party Secretary-General, Member of the Provincial Legislature and Mayoral Candidate for Cape Town, Brett Herron.

“The thing is, wasteful expenditure is not what the Public Protector was investigating.”

What was under investigation were two complaints Herron took to the Public Protector relating to the gross mismanagement of serious corruption allegations brought to Bredell’s attention in 2019.

Instead of launching an investigation, as legally required, the MEC responded by hatching a deal with DA councilors in the town that the councilors would support placing the town under provincial administration, in return for which they’d continue earning their salaries.

Winde was censured for statements he made to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in June 2020, defending Bredell’s management of the allegations, saying it was perfectly legal to have a political agreement to place a municipality under administration.

The Public Protector found Winde’s statements improper, and not in accordance with the Constitution or Executive Ethics Act.

Although these events occurred over the past two years, according to Steenhuisen, Oudtshoorn has made great strides over the past five years since the DA took control of the municipality.

Said Herron: “The conditions on the ground in Oudtshoorn for the overwhelming majority of residents – who happen to be people of colour – show no such great strides."

“It is cold comfort to people who are hungry, who live in circumstances not fit for human habitation, to hear that wasteful expenditure has been cut in the town. It would be more comforting to know that the people who are charged with improving their lives are ethical and have integrity,” Herron said.

“Rather than expelling hot air on Twitter, Steenhuisen should show some leadership and instruct Winde to get rid of Bredell.”

Issued by Karabo Tledima, GOOD Media Manager, 24 October 2021