ALTHOUGH Democratic Alliance (DA) ward councillor Peter Naude’s conviction and sanction for an alleged breach of the Code of Conduct in 2013 has been set aside, he will have to wait yet another month to clear his name.
On Tuesday this week, his furious DA colleagues walked out of the monthly Hibiscus Coast Council meeting to express their disgust at the stalling tactics that had brought about this unwelcome delay.
On May 26, Cllr Naude and Hibiscus Coast Council were informed that his appeal to the MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, had been successful and that he had been exonerated by her.
“I am satisfied that the evidence upon which the committee and (Hibiscus Coast) Council relied to secure the conviction and impose the sanction was substantially insufficient to do so,” she said.
After the long, agonising wait for the outcome of his appeal, Cllr Naude was relieved that his good reputation would at last be officially restored. However, it was not to be be. The item dealing with the his exoneration was struck off the June council meeting agenda, sparking the DA walkout.
“During confirmation of the agenda there were differing views on one item about (whether it should be ) part of the agenda or deferred to July Council Meeting,” municipal spokesman Simon April said. He added that after some debate about the matter, the speaker called for a vote. The vote was in favour of those who wanted the matter deferred.
“It is then that the DA walked out. However the council meeting continued with its business,” Mr April said.
According to DA councillor George Henderson, all the DA and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) councillors had opposed the motion to delete the item from the agenda, but they had been outvoted by the African National Congress (ANC) councillors.
DA councillor Dave Watson said he’d been greatly affronted by the derision, heckling, laughter and rudeness displayed by the ANC councillors when the DA councillors had decided to walk out. “We were not at all protected by the speaker.” he said.
Cllr Naude’s nightmare began in November 2013 when officials of the Hibiscus Coast Municipality identified a supposed breach of the Code of Conduct for Councillors. They claimed he had not declared his wife’s shareholding in a firm that had been awarded a contract for the municipality. The matter was referred to an ad hoc committee, comprising ANC councillors, which convened on a number of occasions.
At a formal meeting, initially denied to him, Cllr Naude stated that, at the time of the alleged breach, his wife, Elsabe had been seriously ill and had subsequently died. He had been unable to disclose the particulars of the benefit as he had been unaware of it, he’d said.
The consulting firm of which Mrs Naude had been a member, had however clearly stated in the tender documents that she was the wife of the councillor. Strangely, the two pages making this disclosure had disappeared when the document was submitted to the ad hoc committee and subsequently to council.
While legislation makes provision for council to warn or reprimand a councillor found guilty of Cllr Naude’s supposed offence, council opted for a more stringent sanction. He was fined a hefty R15 000, of which R9 000 was suspended until the end of his term.
While the fine was harsh punishment, Cllr Naude was more concerned about the fraud allegations and the attack on his good name. He immediately submitted an appeal to Ms Dube-Ncube.
In her findings Ms Dube-Ncube pointed out that the municipal manager had chaired the committee conducting the investigation.
This was in contravention of the Code of Conduct, which stipulated that only the council or committee of the council could conduct such an investigation. She added that there had been no duty on Cllr Naude to declare the interest of his wife. He only had to disclose this interest at the first council meeting after he had become aware of it.
DA councillors said the item was removed from the this month’s council meeting agenda on the grounds that the municipality wanted to seek legal advice about the MEC’s upholding of Cllr Naude’s appeal.
However, they pointed out that the municipality had received the documents a month before the council meeting and there had plenty of time to seek legal advice.
Council could have at least noted the item and then referred it to outstanding business to be dealt with later. At least, Cllr Naude’s name would then have been cleared.
They also believed the only legal recourse open to the municipality regarding the MEC’s decision was to take her to court – at great expense to ratepayers.
