KAYLYNN PALM
Almost three months after the story first made headlines, the City is not releasing any information relating to the case of Tafelsig ward councillor Sheval Arendse who is being investigated for maladministration of the prepaid water meter project in Tafelsig.
In February, a daily newspaper reported that workers employed by a sub-contractor, had accused Mr Arendse of allegedly not paying their wages, but Mr Arendse denies this. He said a contractor had received work from the City of Cape Town and had employed a sub-contractor to educate residents about water meters and install them.
He said the sub-contractor pays the employees at a rate based on what they receive from the main contractor (“’Plain councillor in hot water over meter project”, Plainsman, February 10).
Dirk Smit, the speaker in the council, said that in February the matter had been be referred to the disciplinary committee for investigation.
The Plainsman has sent numerous enquiries to the City but has been receiving the same responses for weeks. We have questioned them about the nature of the complaint, the policy around ward councillors’ involvement with private contractors, the repercussions for Mr Arendse if he is found guilty and how much money was involved in the water meter project. None of these questions, however, was answered.
On February 29, Mr Smit told the Plainsman: “We cannot comment on the matter until after Mr Arendse’s case has served on the disciplinary committee and after the investigation is finalised,” he said.
On April 21 we asked the City when it expected its investigation to be finalised and for an update on the progress made in the case. But Mr Smit only said: “Unfortunately the matter is still under investigation, and therefore we cannot comment on the matter. It is uncertain when the investigation will be finalised. There is no average turnaround as every case is unique,” he said.