The disciplinary hearings of former Bitou mayor Euan Wildeman and suspended municipal manager George Seitisho got under way in Plettenberg Bay on Monday morning, as a new row erupted over Seitisho.
The Democratic Alliance has laid a criminal complaint against Seitisho after allegedly finding him and his lawyer making photocopies in the municipal offices on Sunday night.
DA MPL for Bitou Alan Winde said on Monday the ”covert photocopying operation” was obviously in preparation for the hearings.
”The suspension of an official automatically implies that he/she may not access the building or use the municipality’s facilities,” Winde said.
Southern Cape police spokesperson Ntobeko Mangqwengqwe confirmed that police received a complaint on Sunday night of theft and trespass, but declined to say who the complaint was against.
A docket had been opened and the matter is being investigated, he said.
Acting municipal manager Thomas Nqolo said he was unaware of the alleged incident.
”Unfortunately as the municipal manager I haven’t received any such report,” he said. ”Let me rather not comment on that — we wouldn’t know whether that is fact.”
Nqolo did, however, confirm that the hearings got under way in the Bitou council chambers on Monday morning. He said the men were appearing together, rather than in separate proceedings.
Seitisho — who was not immediately available for comment on the photocopying claim — and Wildeman were charged under the codes of conduct for municipal officials and councillors following a probe by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), which recommended criminal and disciplinary action against the two men.
The SIU reported that in the 18 months to August 2004, Seitisho used an official credit card to spend over R170 000 in municipal funds for private purposes, and that he and Wildeman failed to rectify overpayments of R14 229 each for a trip to Europe.
Wildeman, a member of the African National Congress, was mayor until the March 1 local government polls, and is now a member of the council’s executive committee.
Nqolo said earlier that the closed-door hearings will be presided over by senior members of the South African Local Government Association, and the results will be made public.
Seitisho, who has been suspended from his post, was awarded a R120 000 performance bonus by the municipality in June.
The payment, in respect of the 2005/06 financial year, was decided on before that year had drawn to a close, a procedure which, according to provincial minister of local government Richard Dyantyi, is irregular.
The commercial branch of the South African Police Service is pursuing a fraud investigation against Seitisho, after a charge laid several years ago by DA Bitou councillor Johan Brummer. — Sapa