PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - More than a thousand concerned Bitou residents threw their weight behind a petition calling on the Western Cape government to intervene in local affairs after recent allegations of bribery and corruption surfaced.
Local political party IPM started the petition, but urged all concerned residents to get behind the initiative as the issues impacted all locals.
In a statement, party president Nokuzola Kolwapi said as part of the petition they called on provincial government to not only place the municipality under administration, but also to suspend six top officials implicated in the recent allegations.
These allegations came to light during a Western Cape High Court application involving the controversial Qolweni housing project, which recently led to violent protests in Plettenberg Bay.
The court documents contained allegations that some of Bitou's officials demanded large bribes from contractors to ensure their successful bidding.
"The Bitou Municipality has no leadership, as the current leadership has broken the social contract between local government and us local Plettonians. And for that reason, we do not recognise the current so-called leadership in the municipality," Kolwapi said.
She added that the current political and administrative leadership could not be trusted. "We are being governed by a cabal of corrupt criminals. Once the municipality is placed under administration, it will immediately stop the looting of the municipal coffers and allow for proper investigations to take place."
Kolwapi further said that both the Public Prosecutor's office and Corruption Watch had confirmed that they had received requests to investigate the looting. "We will keep communicating with these offices until investigations are undertaken."
The petition was handed over to officials of the provincial government at the Bitou Municipality last Thursday. "Furthermore, we expect a plan of action from the Western Cape government within seven working days," said Kolwapi.
"We cannot allow this looting to continue. We as Plettonians are tired of receiving sub-par services due to the municipal officials looting funds."
'We bring you the latest Plettenberg Bay, Garden Route news'
