Council cleans house for AG
The Auditor-General (AG) has flagged Saptoe’s appointment twice before, and the municipality risks losing its clean audit status should they ignore it now.
After controversially serving more than two years on the George municipal external audit committee, Roslyn Saptoe was removed as committee member last week Friday. Saptoe's committee membership was terminated by George Council because her husband, Donovan, is the municipal chief of traffic*.
Council said her close personal relationship with a senior official poses a threat to the independence of the audit committee. Should she be allowed to serve her full term, it could cost the municipality a clean audit by the Auditor-General (AG). The matter was debated at a special council meeting on Friday 31 July and according to Mayor Leon van Wyk, all parties present supported the recommendation.
At the time of Saptoe's appointment in March 2018, opposition parties questioned her appointment and the former chairperson of the audit committee, Joe Stoffels, expressed his shock and dismay about her inclusion in the committee. But, under the leadership of then mayor, Melvin Naik, Council did not take action.
Saptoe, however, is convinced that two other members of the audit committee are behind her dismissal. "They wanted to get rid of me, and now they have. I think they were hoping I would resign, but I refuse to resign for what I believe is right," said Saptoe, also accusing the two of racism. "With my appointment they knew my husband holds a senior position. The independence risk has been dealt with three times in Council..." With less than a year of Saptoe's three-year term to go, she demands to know what necessitated the sudden urgency to get rid of her.
According to the deputy director of Financial Management, Leon Wallace, the Auditor-General (AG) has flagged Saptoe's appointment twice before, and the municipality risks losing its clean audit status should they ignore it now. "The action taken by Council was merely aimed at addressing the findings of the Auditor-General and adhering to relevant legislation and good governance practices." Saptoe has submitted a letter of complaint to Van Wyk, accusing chairperson Adele Potgieter and committee member Christo Lamprecht of racism, victimisation and intimidation. Van Wyk confirmed receipt of Saptoe's letter. The letter includes a previous affidavit by Saptoe pertaining to similar allegations, which was submitted to the former mayor, Melvin Naik, in 2019.
In her response to the allegations, Potgieter said that, as chairperson of the Audit and Performance Committee, it is her duty to chair the meetings in accordance with the council-approved audit charter and to incorporate best practices as described by the AG and King IV code. Lamprecht said, "I want to categorically state that I have no problem with Roslyn as a person nor my interactions with her in committee .... When applying guidelines as stated in the King IV report, it must be viewed from the premise of what a reasonable and informed third party (i.e. Auditor-General) would think."
* Saptoe's husband, Donovan Saptoe, has been suspended since October last year and is currently awaiting a disciplinary hearing.