The City says it is reviewing evidence before it to determine the next course of action, if any is required, following allegations of nepotism and abuse of public money levelled against the Montague Gardens-Marconi Beam Improvement District.
This after the district’s ex-office manager, Lianne Lippert, blew the whistle on alleged maladministration and unethical behaviour.
According to Lippert, the issues were reported to the City in January last year, and earlier this year complaints were escalated to various officials, however nothing had been done.
The board has since denied the allegations.
“Last year the board initiated a retrenchment process where two people lost their jobs, however one position was filled immediately by a 69-year-old white male on the recommendation of one director.
“The second position has been filled by hiring a close (30+ years) family friend of the same director as a ‘consultant’. Both previous employees took the district to the CCMA.
“This consultant has now had her contract extended yet again, with the aim of hiring her permanently.
“She does not follow City rules, spending money where it shouldn’t be spent, and hired a family member of the other employee for a R2 million project to plant gardens along Montague Drive,” claimed Lippert.
She said that when she raised the allegations, she was placed on suspension and now faces a slew of charges, including theft.
Responding on behalf of the Board of Directors, districts vice-chairperson Karen Davis said the allegations were unsubstantiated and factually incorrect.
Davis said proof had already been sent to the City for its perusal, and the CID department was conducting an investigation into the allegations.
“It would be inappropriate for the people implicated in these allegations to reply, especially as we cannot disclose any details pertaining to the dismissal of any employee while there are ongoing investigations and SAPS cases pending,” said Davis.
She would not provide further information on the case lodged with the police against Lippert.
Deputy mayor and mayco member for Spatial Planning, Eddie Andrews, said the MMID board was asked to respond to the allegations and provide supporting evidence to substantiate their response, and they had since done so.
“The matter is internally being dealt with by the City’s Improvement District branch. The City is currently reviewing the evidence to determine the next course of action, if any is required. The City has communicated that it would be dealing with the board on these allegations,” said Andrews.
Lippert said she was puzzled that the City said it was investigating the matter but did not request evidence from her.
“This means that on my side they are relying only on the emails I sent summarising the matter. They don't provide full details and evidence of each allegation. It seems like this will just be a tick-the-box exercise while public money is wasted.”
Cape Times