Accusations aside...

Memory heading for provincial parliament

PLETTENBERG BAY - Garden Route District Municipality's Mayor, Memory Booysen, is set to serve in the Western Cape provincial legislature as a DA pick.

This was the news arising from the Garden Route Ratepayers Alliance (GRRA) meeting with DA Fedex chair Helen Zille, who said Booysen had made the party's provincial candidate list, despite various accusations being made against him.

The meeting with Zille, that took place in George on Wednesday 20 March, follows an open letter written by the GRRA to her and DA Leader John Steenhuisen expressing concerns about serious governance issues in the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM), allegedly involving Mayor Memory Booysen and Municipal Manager Monde Stratu.

Steve Pattinson, chairperson of both the Plett Ratepayers Association and the GRRA, asked Zille at the meeting what process had been followed regarding the allegations of corruption related to Booysen and Stratu.

'No tangible evidence of wrongdoing'

Zille acknowledged she was aware of the allegations, and said that despite the various investigations, there was no "tangible evidence of wrongdoing, and in the absence of evidence they were unable to take action in respect of the DA Code of Conduct".

Booysen therefore was still eligible to be on the candidate list.

Pattinson stressed the constant challenges and concerns of accountability and consequence management and said that there was generally a very poor record in this regard.

Pattinson said other governance issues were discussed and "we were aligned on most topics".

Of equal concern was the upcoming budget process and the issues of more tariff increases on top of an inefficient cost base.

"It is not only fraud and corruption that affect the poor, but waste and inefficiency are also crimes against the poor," Pattinson said.

The meeting was also attended by Tertuis Simmers, the Western Cape Minister of Infrastructure and DA leader of the Provincial Executive Council.