A Mitchells Plain Ward Councillor accused of taking money from a water meter project has been cleared of all charges against him and is ready to contest the election in his ward.
In February, the Daily Voice exposed Tafelsig Ward Councillor Sheval Arendse who admitted he received the wages of the water meter project staff before they were paid.
The staff, who went door to door in Tafelsig to get residents to install water meters, were employed by a sub-contractor appointed by the City of Cape Town, and they feared Arendse was robbing them of their wages.
Ward councillors are not allowed to get involved with private contractors appointed by the City to install the water meters.
But that’s all water under the bridge now, says City of Cape Town Council Speaker Dirk Smit.
Smit says: “After a thorough investigation and taking all the information to my disposal into consideration, it was concluded that there exists no reasonable suspicion that Councillor Sheval Arendse contravened the Code of Conduct for Councillors, and the matter is therefore regarded as closed.”
Arendse says he’s been vindicated and that he’s ready to fight for his job at the ballot box on August 3.
“The biggest issues in Tafelsig is unemployment and housing,” he tells the Daily Voice.
“There are 2000 unemployed people registered on our database, and we need to focus on service delivery.”
Arendse says the uproar about the water meter project was from a “jealous person who couldn’t get what they wanted and the matter is now closed.”