Grant Twigg, the DA Mayco member for Urban Waste, is under investigation for the collapse of the waste removal in informal settlements following a vote taken by the City council last week.
This decision comes months after the City of Cape Town fired executive director, Luzuko Mdunyelwa, after an independent investigator blamed him and Twigg for the collapse, which resulted in vullis piling across the Mother City.
According to an internal report in December, a new “in-house” model was started without proper authorisation which resulted in high court action against the municipality and a staggering budget of more than R500 million in a cost comparison.
According to the report, the Urban Waste Management Department opted to terminate external service providers from July 1, 2023, and contractors subsequently took legal action against the City.
Last week councillors were asked to take a vote on recommendations by the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) that Twigg should also be investigated as the City seeks to recover R10.2 million from Mdunyelwa for the losses incurred by the municipality, due to the new model being considered ‘wasteful and fruitless expenditure’.
According to the meeting minutes, which were leaked, the committee questioned why Twigg’s role in this was never investigated.
Central to the issue is a memorandum signed by both Twigg and Mdunyelwa informing staff of the pilot project.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis in August last year said action against Twigg was not warranted as he had acted within his capacity.
Hill Lewis said Twigg “correctly raised concerns about the need for waste management reforms in informal settlements, particularly where private contracting is not delivering the desired result of cleaner communities”.
Speaker Felicity Purchase confirmed her office has been tasked to investigate Twigg’s role in the saga.
Twigg has welcomed the investigation and said he will co-operate.
He says rapid urbanisation has severely impacted cleaning services and he had simply sought to drive service delivery.
Meanwhile Mdunyelwa says he is continuing to fight his dismissal at the CCMA and said the R10.2 million loss is fabricated.
“I am aware they want to take it from my pension because they have blocked my pension. The R10,2 million is a fabricated figure as no money was spent on the project, there was only a proposed budget.“
monique.duval@inl.co.za