Municipal manager to pay City back
STELLENBOSCH municipal manager Geraldine Mettler, who allegedly drew a double salary from that municipality and the City of Cape Town, will settle the outstanding amount with the City.
But the City would not say whether it would pursue a criminal case against her. She allegedly drew a double salary with the knowledge of Stellenbosch Mayor Gesie van Deventer.
While the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) called for Mettler to be suspended and an investigation instituted against her, the EFF in the province said Van Deventer was “well aware of this situation when Mettler was appointed, but ignored the plundering of state funds with full knowledge”.
The City said it had started a process to recover the funds.
Mettler left the City at the end of December, with the effective date of termination of service being January 31. The City said it was unaware that she had taken up a position with full payment at the Stellenbosch Municipality with effect from January 1.
A tip-off was received via the Stellenbosch municipality’s fraud hotline that Mettler was drawing a double salary.
The City’s municipal manager, Achmat Ebrahim, said: “The matter between the City and Ms Mettler relates to her entitlement to payment of a few days in January, for which she was paid by both the City and Stellenbosch municipality at the same time.
“Furthermore, the relevant pension fund contribution for January has since been repaid to the City of Cape Town, and Mettler has also already indicated that she will be settling the outstanding amount with the City.”
When asked if Mettler was entitled to the payment, Ebrahim said: “Further to my previous response, I can provide no further comment as this matter is still in process.”
The Stellenbosch municipality said the matter was private and must be dealt with through the dispute process.
In a statement sent by Stellenbosch municipal director for strategic and corporate services Annalene de Beer, the municipality said: “Stellenbosch Municipality, including the mayor, is in no manner involved in any fraudulent actions as the municipal manager is paid strictly in accordance with her contract with the municipality.
“The municipality has not paid her any money she was not entitled to in terms of her contract, and the municipality therefore will not take any further action.
“The matter is private and must be dealt with through the dispute process.
“The municipality is aware of the fact that the individual was retrenched by the City of Cape Town in December 2016. The payments that were made to her are part of the dispute in which she is represented by her union (Imatu), and it is suggested that any further information is requested from them or the individual herself.”