DA COVERS UP CORRUPTION AND PERJURY
The DA's MEC for local government in the Western Cape Anton Bredell and all the DA aligned councillors of Stellenbosch should be investigated for their inaction to report the corruption in their midst to the police, says the ANC.
ANC chief whip in the Western Cape provincial legislature Pierre Uys says it is a travesty and defeating the ends of justice that the DA, its leaders and councillors deliberately kept quiet for more than two years in order to knowingly cover up the fraud and forgery of a signature on High Court papers. This was done in order to steal the municipal government of Stellenbosch from the ANC.
Bredell has confirmed that the signature of one of his party members was forged. He said the DA's federal executive will decide if the police should be informed of this perjury.
Mr. Uys says: "It is not for the DA or its leaders to decide if a criminal offence should be reported to the police or not. The DA is not a prosecuting authority. Bredell as MEC knows he has certain legal responsibilities to enforce laws, the code of conduct for councillors and act in the interest of a municipality.
"By not reporting the forgery, Bredell is not giving effect to applicable legal imperatives. He then becomes party to this corrupt deed. Therefore the MEC should also be included in a thorough forensic investigation into municipal and provincial activities to get to the bottom of this scandal."
The ANC is concerned that all the council decisions since the illegal take-over in 2009 could be null and void. This includes all expenditure, appointment of staff and awarding of contracts.
"The municipality is in disarray due to this power grab and all its decisions in question. It must be determined, if so who forged the signature of a DA councillor and who took the political decision to hand it to the DA executive, who has no standing in such a serious legal matter, instead of the duly mandated authorities. The DA cannot investigate itself.
"This is once more proof of the DA's double standards in dealing with corruption. It pretends to be the political custodian of the Rule of Law, but it also wants to be referee, player and the rules committee. On the one hand it shouts from the mountains that action should be taken against perceived wrong-doers, but when it is one of their own, it seems the DA condone corruption and protect the corrupt in its own ranks," Mr. Uys says.
Statement issued by Pierre Uys, ANC Chief Whip in Western Cape legislature, May 11 2011
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