The Langeberg Municipality squandered nearly R300 000 of ratepayers’ money on a disciplinary inquiry into the former Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) Deputy Mayor, Johnny Steenkamp – a process that ultimately came to nothing.
The DA and its coalition partners initiated the inquiry in June 2024.
It was clear from the outset that it was a political witch-hunt. Steenkamp had pointed out 87 errors in a proposed budget, which cast the DA in a negative light. Soon after, disciplinary steps were instituted against him.
The Municipality’s legal team repeatedly requested postponements, delaying the process for months.
The Freedom Front Plus’s legal representative, adv Gert van Niekerk, warned that the allegations were baseless right from the start. Despite this, Speaker Pauline Hess and the DA-led coalition pressed ahead. Steenkamp was found guilty on one charge by a majority in the Council, and a sanction was imposed.
On appeal, however, Western Cape Minister of Local Government Anton Bredell (DA) overturned the guilty finding and the sanction. He found that there were no grounds for prosecution or a guilty finding, and that the Council had failed to comply with the rules of natural justice. So, the entire process was a failure.
It was put forward during the council meeting of 21 October 2026 that the legal costs amounting to R293 323 should be recorded as wasteful and fruitless expenditure. A proposal to probe the matter further was rejected by the DA-controlled Council.
In the Freedom Front Plus’s view, this senseless process was a blatant squandering of Langeberg Municipality ratepayers’ money. The party demands that the DA and its coalition partners be held solely liable.
Ironically enough, a party that is all too eager to criticise others for wasting public funds is unwilling to accept responsibility when it has done the same.
The Freedom Front Plus will keep exposing decisions impacting ratepayers’ finances and keep demanding accountability.
Freedom Front Plus Language Rights: It supports the protection of Afrikaans as a language of instruction and communication.
Dance Cannon
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?
Miss Fix It
Roses are red
Violets are glorious
Never try to surprise
Oscar pistorious