Leader of the Patriotic Alliance (PA) Gayton McKenzie speaks during a media briefing at the Cullinan Hotel in Cape Town on 16 April 2024. Picture: Gallo Images/Die Burger/Jaco Marais
The Patriotic Alliance (PA) is displeased with an unfavorable court ruling against its leader, Gayton McKenzie.
McKenzie was dealt a blow after the Western Cape High Court on Monday ordered the PA leader to cooperate with an investigation looking into corruption in the Central Karoo District Municipality during his tenure as mayor.
In August 2023, Western Cape MEC for Local Government Anton Bredell tasked two forensic investigators to probe allegations of maladministration, fraud, corruption and other serious malpractices at the municipality, which, at first, resisted cooperating.
The investigation would look into the lavish Sandton gala dinner organised by Fezicube Events that reportedly raised R3 million in 2022.
The money allegedly went into the trust account of law firm Botha E and Erasmus Y, which lists PA’s head of legal, Eugene Botha, as one of the directors.
At the time, McKenzie insisted that the funds would be used for service delivery projects in the Karoo.
The PA leader and other respondents, however, “failed and/or refused to hand over certain information” to the investigators and would only do so if compelled by a court.
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McKenzie had argued before the Western Cape High Court that the fundraising initiatives he promised to implement within the first 100 days of his term of office as mayor were “personal projects”.
Therefore, the fundraising revenue were not funds of the Karoo municipality, but rather revenue held in his personal capacity.
He stressed that there was “no lawful basis” to have an investigation instituted because the municipality itself contributed no money to the expenditure and therefore, the provisions of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) did not apply in this instance.
According to the mayor, the money raised were used to buy items such as toilets, pipes and to repair swimming pools.
The PA leader, who resigned in May 2023, told the court that he used his own funds over and above money raised by the fundraiser when necessary.
Judge Rosheni Allie, however, ruled McKenzie’s arguments were without merit.
Allie pointed out that the PA leader failed to state that the initiatives for the municipality were being undertaken in his personal capacity in a meeting held on 13 April 2022.
“Quite the contrary, he made it clear, that he was doing it in his capacity as executive mayor and he was doing it in order to ‘clean up’ the municipality. He certainly did not state that he was operating an initiative outside of the municipal structure nor parallel to it,” the court’s judgment reads.
McKenzie was obliged to account to the municipality about the funds.
“His failure to do so, therefore justified the investigation and he is duty bound to co-operate with the investigators,” Allie said.
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The judgment further reads: “It was thus clear that the fundraising initiative would be in fulfillment of obligations of the municipality, and that it would be held in the name of the executive mayor, and not in the second respondent’s private capacity.
“The flyer advertising the fundraising event in fact says as much, because people were invited to the event: ‘to join the new district mayor of the central Karoo’.”
Allie also directed Botha E & Erasmus Y Inc to furnish the required information, including documentation confirming the utilisation of the funds, to the investigators.
Central Karoo District Municipality-Gayton McKenzie Case by Molefe Seeletsa on Scribd
Reacting to the outcome, the PA said although the party was studying the judgment, it was not “entirely accurate and factual”.
“There is, however, clear factual inaccuracy of the actual court order in some sections of the media that McKenzie ‘has been forced to comply with a forensic investigation’. This is a stretch of the core issues involved in this matter,” Botha said in a statement.
Botha emphasised that the judgment had “patent errors of fact”, saying it was “not correct” that the tickets to a gala dinner fundraiser were R200 000 per ticket.
“We will take legal advice and decide the correct way forward to ensure the protection of private individuals from this particular use and abuse of state power.”
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