Water woes, questions over governance loom before Matzikama Municipality by-election

Anna Titus from Mangaung informal settlement in Vredendal. Mangaung informal settlement have been without water. 08 September 2023. (Photo: Nathi Qondile)

By Suné Payne

12 Nov 2024

Next week, residents of Klawer will go to the polls in a by-election in the Matzikama Municipality. While campaigning is in full swing, the area is now gripped by an ongoing water supply issue as well as an embarrassing forensic investigation which showed the irregular appointment of the DA deputy mayor’s son.

There’s a week to go until a key by-election in the Matzikama Municipality, situated along the West Coast. While campaigning is well under way, the underlying issues in the municipality have come to light: including a forensic report, water supply problems and governance issues.

Matzikama is situated in the north-western Western Cape and forms part of the border with the Northern Cape. The municipality comprises towns such as Vredendal, Klawer and Vanrhynsdorp.

Its 15-seat council is run by the Democratic Alliance (DA), which has seven seats, with the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus), with one seat. The African National Congress has three seats. Other parties each have one seat: the Economic Freedom Fighters, Good and the Patriotic Alliance (PA). There is one vacant seat (more on that below).

With its eight seats, the DA-FF Plus is expected to maintain and possibly extend its control of the council.

The region had been quiet until a series of recent incidents – a spate of violence against children in particular; the re-emergence of the water crisis; Klawer ANC councillor Jan Koopman’s defection to the DA; and, of course, the forensic report about the municipality’s hiring of an employee – the deputy mayor’s son.

Read Daily Maverick journalist Tamsin Meterlerkamp’s report on the spate of violence against children in the municipality here.

In recent weeks, burst pipes in some parts of the municipality, largely in parts of Vredendal and Vanrhynsdorp, have left residents without water due to ageing infrastructure.

In 2023, Daily Maverick reported how a water crisis in Vredendal and Vanrhynsdorp, during the key flower tourism season, had driven local business people to frustration over income losses along with communities having no water for days. The cause: aged infrastructure, limited technical services within the municipality and foreign objects such as cooldrink bottles found within the water services.

Read more: How two Western Cape towns ran dry – Coke bottles, missing director, ageing canals, broken pipes

Read more: Political blame game erupts over how two Western Cape towns ran dry

Charges of sabotage were laid by the acting municipal manager Lionel Phillips, which Daily Maverick reported on.

In October 2024, several communities were left without water. This, according to residents we spoke to, was mainly due to not a lack of water supply, but infrastructure issues. Facebook posts show daily “apologies” from the municipality for the inconvenience of a burst pipe.

matzikama by-election water Anna Titus from Mangaung informal settlement in Vredendal makes her way home with bottles of water during a water supply crisis in September 2023. (Photo: Nathi Qondile)

Daily Maverick sent queries to the municipality for an explanation of why there were still water supply issues, but it did not respond, despite follow-ups.

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At the end of September 2024, an investigative report made the rounds. Daily Maverick was sent a copy, which we verified. The report was commissioned by the Provincial Department of Local Government. The department confirmed to Daily Maverick this week that the report had been issued to the municipality on 20 September.

The report outlined an allegation that Heinrich Almar Koopman, the son of Deputy Mayor Amelia Job (DA) was appointed to positions in the municipality without the required qualifications.

The ANC in the province, via provincial secretary Neville Delport, said, “These findings show that the DA’s own members, including elected officials, have acted in their own interests instead of prioritising the needs of the people they serve.”

The report found these appointments were irregular, but there was no proof of Job directly interfering with her son’s municipal appointments.

“The DA cannot brush this under the carpet and hope it will go away. The people of Matzikama deserve better,” said Delport.

The ANC has called for disciplinary action for all implicated officials, for the immediate termination of Heinrich Koopman’s appointment, and for the municipality to implement a transparent hiring process.

“The community of Matzikama deserves leaders who act with integrity, not favouritism and financial negligence. We call on Klawer’s community to support the ANC in the 20 November 2024 by-election to secure accountable, people-focused governance. An ANC victory will mark a turning point toward genuine transparency and service for Matzikama’s people,” said Delport.

However, the DA’s constituency head for Matzikama, Thomas Walters – who is a member of the provincial legislature – said it was no surprise that the ANC called for steps over Matzikama.

Walters said in a statement earlier in November that the report “did not find grounds that the councillor in question unduly influenced the process”.

“However, and this is where things get tricky for the ANC, the forensic investigation recommended that a further broader investigation should take place into the conduct of key officials appointed when the ANC was in power in Matzikama.”

Walters said the ANC “hopes to exploit the fact that Matzikama is run by a coalition government with a slender majority of one seat”.

Upcoming by-election

In the 2021 municipal elections, the ANC won Ward 6 (Klawer) with 37.9% of the vote. Jan Koopman was elected as ward councillor.

In a stunning turn of events, in September 2024, the governing DA announced Koopman had joined the party after resigning not only from the ANC, but from his position as councillor.

This led to the by-election scheduled for Wednesday, 20 November.

According to Walters, Koopman left “as he is no longer willing to be part of ANC efforts to obstruct the progress that the municipality is making”.

Walters said the DA welcomed Koopman as a “pioneer for his community, crafting a pathway for others and displaying what good can happen if the DA is trusted in government”.

But the ANC had other words for their former councillor, with the party stating they welcomed his departure.

“This resignation comes as no surprise, given the mounting pressure from his constituency due to his failure to credibly and efficiently perform his duties,” read a statement issued by Immanuel Adams, ANC West Coast acting regional secretary.

The party said there were allegations against Koopman for allegedly receiving kickbacks from local tuck shop owners and participating in dubious business forums.

Adams said: “Councillor Koopman’s resignation is not only a testament to his failure, but also a clear indication of the corruption and self-interest that has taken precedence over the wellbeing of the community he was entrusted to serve. We remain committed to restoring integrity, transparency and accountability to Klawer and the affected surrounding communities in Ward 6, and ensuring that the voices of the people are not silenced by those who seek to exploit public office for personal gain.”

The ward will be contested by Koopman, the ANC’s Janay de Jongh, Pieter Gerrit Geldenhuys from the FF Plus and Monica Bottom from the PA.

This will be the second by-election in Matzikama since the 2021 municipal elections after a by-election in Vanrhynsdorp saw Christo Boks resign from the Patriotic Alliance and join the DA. He then won his seat in a tightly contested by-election in July 2022. DM

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Upcoming by-election