Johannesburg - The speaker of Council, Colleen Makhubele, says she welcomes a police probe into her community social outreach programmes after a case of corruption was opened by the DA against her.
The DA had opened a case of corruption against the speaker after being informed of a number of “irregular activities” that were allegedly taking place in the speaker's office.
The DA had accused the speaker of using the municipality’s resources to aid Cope, a political party to which she belongs.
“I welcome the police probe into my social responsibility programmes, which serve to uplift communities through sponsorships from the private sector and City entities and are co-ordinated by the Chief of Staff and officials in my Office,” Makhubele said.
She said she would give an extensive response on the matter once the police have done their investigations and the national government has responded to a complaint from the DA about her conduct.
Meanwhile, Makhubele said she had noted the attacks on her office since she announced the commencement of an independent investigation into the municipality’s corruption-busting unit, GFIS. The unit had been accused of carrying out rogue activities in which certain councillors were targets.
“I have noted with concern the recent public attacks on the investigation process by Cllr Kayser-Echeozonjoku, which are intended to mislead the public, media and residents regarding the actual purpose of the investigation. Needless to say, I have found her false claims that the Government of Local Unity intends to collapse GFIS, which is extremely damaging. Even worse, her thesis that the council and councillors are engaged in the second version of state capture is insulting, demeaning and unbecoming given the adverse consequences of the unlawful conduct of GFIS,” Makhubele said.
The investigation into rogue activities at GFIS included an investigation into several DA councillors who had been allegedly involved in giving out instructions on spy activities on ANC councillors and the hiding of crucial reports from council.
“I have a duty to protect the integrity of the council, councillors and officials who will participate in the investigation and the legal team that will conduct the investigation from the DA’s reckless and damaging statements. This is because while we all respect the DA’s freedom of speech, we also have a duty to protect council processes from uninformed speech and scuttlebutt in this regard,” Makhubele said.
The Star