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NMB COVER-UP! How the office of the mayor tried to conceal alleged fraud

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Editor: What Councillor Steyn fails to highlight is that the attorneys involved actually changed a source document – reading the screenshot one can only assume that the attorneys were instructed to remove the name of the Mayor not as a result of an oversight in instructions (such as mistakenly including the Mayor’s name) but as an attempt by the municipality to avoid embarrassment and possible fraud accusations.

Dear Editor

Days after reports surfaced that Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor Gary van Niekerk has allegedly fraudulently and unlawfully appointed a service provider on behalf of the Municipality, evidence surfaced as to how his office tried to distance his name from payment claims out of fear of being implicated.

The DA has received a leaked screenshot of correspondence from the offices of attorneys Boqwana Burns addressed to the Mayor’s Chief of Staff, Vasu Padayachee, in which the attorneys confirmed that they have removed the mayor’s name from statements and tax invoices after a telephonic conversation with Padayachee.

The following damning line is seen in the correspondence: “We refer to your telephonic call earlier and attach hereto Statement and Tax Invoices (the mayor’s name has been removed already) for your attention”.

This could further serve as proof that Mayor Gary van Niekerk and his office were fully aware that his actions to appoint an external service provider and incur debt of more than half a million Rand at the tax payers’ expense will land him in hot water.

On Tuesday it transpired that on 8 June 2022, Mayor Van Niekerk appointed a legal service provider to represent him and a faction of his party, the Northern Alliance, against internal factional fights. From March 2022 to September 2022 Mayor Van Niekerk and the two other Northern Alliance councillors were ousted out of Council as a result of these factional legal fights.

Mayor Van Niekerk has not only allegedly fraudulently attempted to mislead the service provider by professing to appoint them on behalf of Council, but he also contravened a number of pieces of legislation that makes it unlawful for any unauthorized person, which includes councillors or former councillors, to appoint service providers and as such meddle in the Supply Chain processes of a municipality.

The DA understands that the SIU is currently investigating the case after criminal charges were laid against Mayor Van Niekerk and will now hand over this further evidence to the investigating officer.

The people of Nelson Mandela Bay deserve better. Corruption is a cancer that is busy killing South Africa. The DA will do everything in its ability to rescue SA from corrupt and compromised politicians so that we can get our country back on track.

Regards

Cllr Morné Steyn
DA NMB Rules and Ethics Spokesperson

Boqwana Burns Statement of Removal of Mayor's Name
Boqwana Burns Statement of Removal of Mayor’s Name
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Port Elizabethan

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