GOOD Statement by Keagen Gertse, GOOD Drakenstein Councillor & Caucus Chairperson:
The GOOD Party in Drakenstein Municipality has written to the Speaker of Council, Alderman Koos Le Roux, raising concerns about ward project allocations, specifically an allocation in ward 14 where ward councillor Brenda van Willingh allegedly spent R20,000 on t-shirts for 10 ward committee members. In addition, many wards in Drakenstein allocated R5,000 towards ward committees for stationery.
The Municipal Structures Act, 1998, places the responsibility on the Municipality to budget for out-of-pocket expenses relating to the optimal functioning of ward committees. However, considering that these individuals do not occupy offices, GOOD wishes to see receipts for this spent and requests answers on how and when such stationery was procured and used.
In terms of the ward projections and the 2024/2025 ward allocations, spending R20 000.00 on t-shirts for 10 ward committee members is unjustifiable. GOOD believes that no directive exists which gives ward councillors the right to even consider procuring items of clothing for committee members to be identified and ultimately function within their respective positions.
What further fuels GOOD’s discomfort is that on 26 November 2025, General Council Sitting, GOOD voted against the Ward Projects Policy, as we believe the policy in its current form disallows the council to scrutinise ward funds that were used in previous financial years and bars the council from holding organisations accountable that handled these funds.
GOOD questioned the R20,000 worth of T-shirts to the Community Services Portfolio Committee. We were subsequently informed that we need to wait for the Audited Financial Statements of the organisation, in this instance Miqlat, to further probe these concerns. Considering that the Audited Statements will not be due for at least another six-plus months, and as was confirmed in Council, this limits our ability to question this expenditure in real-time.
We simply cannot accept this spending in its current form and, not probe, scrutinise, or vie for accountability.
We need urgent answers to this exorbitant spending as the money could have been used elsewhere to have a more meaningful impact on communities across various sectors, such as sports, arts and culture, development, safety and security. R20,000 for T-shirts simply does not make the cut on a ward priority list and should not have been part of the ward allocations in the first place.
GOOD will not rest until we have a breakdown of how these monies were spent, the amounts paid to service providers, outside of Miqlat, NFC and other organisations that benefit, largely from ward allocations, at the expense of other community organisations who already operate on the ward level and are better positioned to serve their communities.
GOOD has called on Drakenstein before to empower ward-based NGOs and NPOs and not to enforce a one-size-fits-all model where outside actors come in and scoop up the biggest pieces of the pie. This position disenfranchises the very people it is meant to help and develop.
GOOD Sports and Recreation: GOOD supports sports and recreational activities for youth engagement.
Y0Dler
Fun South African Fact: The aboriginal people of South Africa are the San and the Khoi.
Divine Bramble
Diary of an Englishman after he moves to South Africa….
**August 1**: Just got transferred with work from London, UK to our new home in Phalaborwa, Limpopo, South Africa. Now this is a town that knows how to live! Beautiful, sunny days and warm, balmy evenings. I watched the sunset from a deckchair by our pool yesterday. It was beautiful. I’ve finally found my new home. I love it here.
**September 1:** Really heating up now. It got to 31 today. No problem though. Living in air-conditioned home, driving air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I’m turning into a sun-worshipper – no blasted rain like back in London! Had the back yard landscaped with tropical plants today. Lots of palms and rocks. No more mowing lawns for me! Another scorcher today, but I love it here. It’s Paradise !
**October 1:** The temperature hasn’t been below 35 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least today it’s windy though. Keeps the flies off a bit. Acclimatizing is taking longer than we expected. Fell asleep by the pool yesterday. Got third degree burns over 60% of my body. Missed three days off work. What a dumb thing to do. Got to respect the old sun in a climate like this!
**October 25:** This wind is a bastard. It feels like a giant fucking blow dryer. And it’s hot as hell! The home air conditioner is on the blink and the repair man charged R200 just to drive over and tell me he needs to order parts from @#$# Johannesburg. The wife & the kids are complaining.
**October 30:** The temperature’s up around 40 and the parts still haven’t arrived for the fucking air conditioner. House is an oven so we’ve all been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now. Bleeding R4 million house and we can’t even go inside. Why the hell did I ever come here?
**November 4:** Finally got the fucking air-conditioner fixed. It cost R1,500 and gets the temperature down to around 35 degrees. Stupid repairman. Fucking thief. If one more smart bastard says ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I’m going to fucking throttle him. Fucking heat! By the time I get to work, the car radiator is boiling over, my fucking clothes are soaking fucking wet and I smell like baked cat. Fucking place is the end of the Earth.
**November 9:** Tried to run some errands after work, wore shorts, and sat on the black leather upholstery in my car. I thought my fucking backside was on fire. I lost 2 layers of flesh, all the hair on the backs of my legs and off my fucking behind. Now the car smells like burnt hair, fried bum and baked cat. The Weather report might as well be a fucking recording – hot and sunny. Hot and sunny, Hot and fucking sunny. It’s been too hot to do anything for 2 bleeding months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Fuck!!
**November 15:** Doesn’t it ever rain in this darn place? Water restrictions will be next, so my R5,000 worth of palms might just dry up and blow into the fucking pool. The only things that thrive in this hell-hole are the fucking flies. You don’t dare open your mouth for fear of swallowing half a dozen of the little buzzards!
**November 20:** Welcome to HELL! It got to 45 degrees today. Now the air conditioner is gone in my car. The repair man came to fix it and said, ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I wanted to shove the car up his backside. Anyway, had to spend the R2,500 of the mortgage payment to bail me out of jail for assaulting the stupid fool. Fucking PHALABORWA! What kind of sick, demented idiot would want to live here!
**December 1:** WHAT!!!! The FIRST day of Summer!!!!
You are fucking kidding me, right?