Another aggressive assault on the character of Juan van Schalkwyk, Speaker of Swellendam Municipality, was published by the Langeberg Bulletin on December 14 and as has become a clear pattern, Van Schalkwyk was again denied the right of reply.
A media statement of Barrydale resident Ruanda van Rooyen, the second of its nature, was posted on the Bulletin’s Facebook page at 14:00 ( we believe it was at 10am) on Saturday – the details of this statement is included at the bottom of this article.
According to Van Schalkwyk he received a WhatsApp message from the Langeberg Bulletin editor Elana Theunnissen at 07:58 today (December 15) indicating that he was welcome to forward comment or a statement relating to the article.
Close followers of this unfolding drama had noticed that The Langeberg Bulletin had edited Van Rooyen’s article on a few occasions.
The latest edit was done at 08:52 this morning (December 15) and the post was then already shared by several individuals including the Barrydale DA branch.
The following information was added to the article during the last edit:
**** Juan van Shalkwyk has been notified of this article and post, and offered the opportunity to add his comment or send statement for placement **** -The Langeberg Bulletin
#swellendammunicipality #swellendampolitics #swellendam
Speaker speaks up
Van Schalwyk issued the following statement in response to the Van Rooyen article that was deleted from the Langeberg Bulletin’s page at around 3pm this afternoon.
“Elana (Theunnissen) has not given me the right of reply to any of the character assassination content that she has posted about me and my party since October 2024.
She has traded in factless (sometimes faceless) slander and innuendo all through November and December 2024 without asking my side first before publishing.
This is in complete contrast to the national media and journalistic norms.
Now Elana suspiciously writes to me for the first time in 6 weeks, at 07h58, on the 15th December 2024, to ask for my comment on an article that she already shared publicly 2 days earlier.
Contrast this to the reverse, such as in October 2024, where I would write to the Bulletin explaining council matters, and she would often ensure the DA mayor had the right to reply in the same edition.
These are the actions of someone who is clearly politically partisan and content to trade in innuendo and slander, I assume, because it is profitable.”
Additionally, she deletes any comments on her online channels that challenge her narrative or question her motives or tactics.
Which is neither objective nor transparent journalism.”
Editor denies any wrong doing
Bulletin Editor Theunnissen was asked for comment and the following reply was received:
“I received media statement from Ruanda v. Rooyen on 14 December 2024. This statements was also copied to journalists at Rapport and News24.
The statement were placed (unedited), under the name of the author on 14 December: 14:00. The Author made additional 2 edits on her statement within 30 mins of placement.
On 07:58, today, I sent a whatsapp message to Jean v Shalkwyk, with a link to the statement, with a message stating –
“Herewith article sent yesterday by Ruanda v Rooyen, fellow VF+ member, well known to you. You are welcome to comment on her article, or forward statement for placement.”
A further edit (by way of a footnote) were made to the statement after my message to Jean were sent, advising that Jean v Schalkwyk were affored the opportunity to reply / comment on the statement as placed.
I wish to place on record that I have in no way uttered slander or innuendos about van Schalkwyk. He is most welcome to provide evidence thereof.
Furthermore, he is welcome to provide proof and examples of my so-called slander and ‘politically partisan’ content. I dismiss with the disdain it deserves his statement that the Bulletin trades in innuendo and slander, because it is profitable.
I pride myself in objective and transparant journalism – again please provide proof of the contrary.
The online platform, Langeberg Bulletin, is monitored and managed by the Editor of the Langeberg Bulletin. We do allow comment on the platform that is relevant to articles and stories shared, and allow opinions to be shared to encourage dialogue on sticky issues.
What we do not tolerate however is hate speech and ‘social media trolls’ on our facebookpage, and will modirate and delete comments whereby readers are verbally attacked. We demand mutual respect from all who wish participate on our platform.
One should however caution against crying a lack of transparancy and objectivism as soon as an article story or statement does not necessarily favour your own viewpoint.
The Bulletin will continue to post and publish statements that is in the interest of the Swellendam community. This is unfortunately not always a populist story or viewpoint.”
Right of Reply – What does it mean exactly?
In simple terms, the Right of Reply is used when one feels that his actions and/or intentions were misrepresented by a media outlet. This also applies for when people feel their privacy was infringed through publications in the media.
In legal terms, The Media and Defamation Act, Chapter 579 of the Laws of Malta, bestows on both legal or natural persons, the ‘Right of Reply’. If you, or your company have been targeted with any of the below, you are within your rights to enforce the defence of ‘Right of Reply’ as stipulated in Article 15 of the Media and Defamation Act:
– If you have been misrepresented or were a victim of defamation.
– If your private life was infringed by means of a publication.
After taking action against the accused party, the Court shall take the relevant facts into consideration in passing judgment and deciding on the appropriate award. ~ https://www.legal500.com/
Communication lines severed
News62 has tried to reach van Rooyen for comment, but she has blocked this publication on the respective channels. She did this shortly after publishing her first media statement.
We suspect that this might have something to do with the fact that voice messages she had sent before she published first media statement, contradicts her motivation for cutting ties with the FF Plus.
News62 would also like to inform its readers that this publication is by no means affiliated to any political party and has always taken a neutral stance when reporting municipal/political issues. This publication is also the only of its kind in the area that does not receive any from of government funding.
Van Rooyen’s Media Statement
“VF PLUS SILENCE IN SWELLENDAM IS DEAFENING!”
by Ruanda van Rooyen – Swellendam Municipality resident
13 December 2024
My media statement on 29 November 2024 refers.
With my initial media statement, I was really scared at what was going to follow, but soon after my anxiety calmed with the overwhelming support from my village and Swellendam. I must say that if it was not for this support, I would not have made it to this point. This was short lived as the personal attacks with voice notes and posts on whatsapp and social media from local ANC councillors Amanda Swart, Ike Ferguson and their followers as well as Juan Van Schalkwyk supporters became almost too much to bear.
To suppress my fears and tension I started spending time going through all the countless whatsapps, voice notes and screen shots. You must understand that I was shocked and became more traumatised by reading this again, and some of it again and again and at times drove me to tears. I mean when you get to a point where you realise that he told me to do things that would have landed me in big trouble with the law. I am so grateful for not having done that at the time.
I was terrified when I realised that he had this manipulative way, a fluent way with words, the almost gentle rage at times and his charm in coming across, and that I had almost fallen for it. When I saw the results of his action my eyes started to open, and his unholy alliance with the ANC was now a fact.
Good day, my media statement of today refers. Please replace the following paragraph, as I made a mistake with one of the dates.
Correct paragraph:-
As a matter of fact, from becoming a councillor *during November 2021* and Speaker *during January 2023* he has steadily worked his plan to get rid of the Mayor, MM and Senior Managers, with the help of the ANC. He was for sure planning this for months, since early 2022/2023, as he said more than once that the ANC needed his vote and that he will get them to work with him against the Mayor and MM.
Thank you.
His hundreds of voice notes are vicious and lots of time in anger, displaying his temper like way of speaking. I’m give you extracts of 5 voice messages on 19th February 2024 between 08:59 and 19:52 in which he mentions having used his PA to spy on the MM and senior managers and says,
‘I must put up with members of the public (referring to 2 male members of our village by name), what the fuck is your problem with me? What kind of beta male faggots are you?’
‘This MM, I hate her, I hate her, I am not even going to greet her. This useless Mayor and MM I must deal with, that are not qualified to be street cleaners, but they are running our R400 000 000 municipality. I’m gatvol of having to deal with these idiots’, referring to himself as a good-looking amazing speaker he then continues to say,
‘The MM poisons people against me, I’m gatvol of her, she’s the most emotional wicked person, have you seen how she dresses, she looks like she’s drunk and had a hangover from the night before? Her offness with me is fucking disrespectful, I am the fucking speaker, I don’t think people understand what that means!’
‘I know what the law says about getting rid of senior management in the municipality and I will use it against them, so don’t piss me off, and she’s a senior manager and I will find the law of something that she gets wrong, and I will get rid of her!’
‘I am the fucking Speaker, they have to respect me!’
I mailed Pieter Groenewald on 2nd December on behalf of our disgruntled VF Plus members in Barrydale and I’m still waiting for a response 11 days later,
Dear Mr. Groenewald
I trust you are well.
We, as previous FF+ members in Barrydale, wish to express our concern with the actions of the Swellendam Speaker, Juan van Schalkwyk.
As FF+ members we initially signed up to the party as we aligned with its policies and principles and also to help form a coalition with many other parties, primarily to gain control of South Africa from the ANC. We initially experienced Barrydale as a ‘neglected’ town and found it challenging to raise our concerns regarding service delivery. These also motivated members to sign up as FF+ members, as we now have a Speaker in council to voice these concerns. It was this very fact that helped us gain traction and increased membership in our village.
However, it is with regret that the FF+ in Barrydale have ceased to exist, and membership has therefore become almost non-existent with the Speaker, which has now sided openly with the ANC. This should be a real concern for you as it is for us. We are all too aware of what municipal infrastructure endures and become under the rule of the ANC.
We will therefore no longer support Mr. van Schalkwyk, and it is our opinion that he is doing this for self-righteousness and self-preservation and not for the benefit of us as FF+ members and neither for the party. We also believe he has started a new political party to contest the 2026 leadership in the Swellendam Municipality, as he has mentioned this to Grand Lind (previous chairman) and myself.
We are not politicians, but merely members in a community that are now raising our concerns with the current affairs of the Speaker, as this cannot continue unabated. His actions have already negatively impacted the financial and service delivery in a municipality that has again received a clean audit on Friday and the year before.
I am therefore submitting this email to you as we voice our absolute disappointment with his behaviour. We implore the FF+ leadership to take action to resolve this issue as a matter of urgency. As members we would love to speak with you, should you be available.
Lastly, almost all our branch members are too afraid to come forward and speak up at this moment, but they have given me their support in writing this email on their behalf. Those who have done this in the past, Grand Lind and David Wright, have been ignored by the party. The greatest reason for this fear is Juan’s association and alignment with the ANC, in particular with Amanda Swart. She is known for her underhand tactics and vile threats in Barrydale and is not somebody that should be taken lightly. For this she has spent time in jail in the past.
We reached out to you today to urge you to follow up on this as a matter of urgency.
Regards
Ruanda Van Rooyen on behalf Disgruntled FF+ members
On 3rd December I received a call from Corne Mulder, and he did not return the call as promised and at the same time Juan has not reached out to me or any members of the VF Plus that I know. This our conversation in summary,
He wanted to know why I made the first media statement and was more concerned about the earlier leaks on the VF Plus whatsapp groups. Saying that Juan then created another whatsapp group to which I was added, I was never added to another whatsapp group by Juan, it’s a lie. Juan has not reached out to me in any way since 29th November.
He continued by saying that he wants to understand what happened,
I told him that Juan aligned him with a very radical ANC councillor, which is not liked in our village, and that she (ANC) has now become confident in knowing that they have his full support. That he was interfering in official municipal investigations and even instructing me to participate, which made me nervous. At the same time Juan was saying that if he can’t get the mayor then he is going to get to everyone under him, which to me was a vengeance by him. Also reminding him that our ex-chairman had voiced his concerns in writing to them.
Instead of addressing my concerns for Swellendam he continued with a lesson on the Oudtshoorn and Theewaterskloof VF Plus actions and the allegations on NEWS24 about bribes to the ANC by the DA. In the process saying that the VF Plus would never make any deals with only the ANC at the cost of the DA and allow the ANC to get the upper hand in this, as it would be to the VF Plus’s detriment and that Juan was under immense pressure and that all these allegations has caused certain things to happen.
He then says that he wants to make it right again and that he is under pressure, because of the letter (media statement?) to take steps and action (obviously against Juan is what I heard) and that he doesn’t really want to do that. I told him that I’m prepared to have a discussion, even with Juan, but that Juan will have to realise what he has done and who he is involved with and what his actions are causing. At the same time telling him that supporters of the ANC in our village have told me that I, we should be careful, as the ANC here is using us. That they are only using Juan to get the key positions and then they are going to throw Juan under the bus and then we were going to be in ‘Kak straat’!
He said that he was prepared to come to Barrydale and bring Juan with for a discussion, that he would meet with the Mayor and even have a public meeting to address this matter and again stressed that he would like to sit down and discuss this with me. I then asked him to call me again the next day as I had to get back to work. I am still waiting for that call or to reach out, 10 days later.
Again, I mailed Pieter Groenewald on 7th December bringing to his attention that I had to bring criminal charges against Juan and others and that I am being victimised and intimidated because of their absence of his appropriate action and I’m still waiting for a response 6 days later,
Dear Mr Groenewald
I trust this email finds you well.
As you are aware I was the one behind the media statement of last Friday, 29 November 2024, regarding Juan Van Schalkwyk.
It is with the utmost respect that I write this email to you.
Since last Friday things have seriously heated up in terms of Juan and the ANC councillors in our Council and a lot more on the outside in the public domain in Swellendam and Barrydale. Since then, additional residents have come forward with more information and another resident and I had to act by bringing criminal charges, at SAPS Barrydale, against a number of people.
CAS/……………………..
*= The CAS numbers and charges, although forwarded to him, I have left out, as you will understand =*
It is now at the point where I’m being victimised by ANC and known VF Plus affiliates. This includes slander, intimidation, false accusations and more. I sincerely hope you understand that I will have to bring more criminal charges.
At the same time, I cannot help but to feel that the VF Plus is dragging its feet with Juan Van Schalkwyk, as I see it as the absolute protection of him by your federal council.
I am forwarding 2 voice notes to you on whatsapp, one of Corne Mulder’s call on Tuesday for which I am still waiting for his promised callback the next day. The 2nd voice note is regarding Juan’s ……………………..
*= Also left left out, as you will understand =*
From where I am now, it seems the only option left is to release a follow-up media statement of what I am experiencing and the lack of VF Plus action. How much longer does my community and myself have to be victimised before you listen and act?
Kind regards
Ruanda Van Rooyen
I mailed Corne Mulder on 8th December to voice my deepest fears, why is he letting Juan continue with this destruction and that he leaves me no other option, but to release a follow-on media statement and I’m still waiting for a response 5 days later,
Dear Mr Mulder
I trust this email finds you well.
I refer to our cell phone conversation on Tuesday, 3 December 2024, at about 11 am. Also find the email that I wrote to Mr Groenewald yesterday.
Where I live in Barrydale things have seriously heated up from Tuesday about Juan and his conspiring actions with the ANC councillors in our Council. Because all this has now become public knowledge in my community and Swellendam, I have been absolutely overwhelmed with support in what I have done and am astonished with additional information that has been given to me. In saying this you need to know that these community members are willing to make affidavit statements. To say the least I’m horrified by some of this as it is disgusting!
However, I get the impression that the VF Plus is protecting Juan at all costs, no matter what. This has unfortunately forced my hand where I had to bring criminal charges against Juan and with the additional information given to me will have to bring some more charges to SAPS and the HAWKS. If I don’t do this, I will put myself in harm’s way with SAPS and or the HAWKS.
The victimisation, slander and incitement against me by our ANC councillors, in my village, has now become extremely personal. They have become so brazen in what they are saying in their messages and voice notes, because it not only reflects their support for Juan but also the fact that they openly share messages about Juan’s support for them in going forward.
This brings me to messages where Juan said that if he can’t get the mayor, he is going to destroy everyone under him. We know by now that he has been instrumental in suspending the Municipal Manager, although she’s back for now.
My question to you is who is going to be next, the Chief Financial Officer, Director Infrastructure, Director Community Services and their senior managers? It is my belief that there is a real threat that this might be on the cards this coming week between Juan and the ANC, and should this happen it is not going to reflect well on the VF Plus and yourself and I say this with the utmost respect.
You will understand that where I am at, it seems the only option left is to release a follow-up media statement of what my community and I are experiencing with the lack of VF Plus action. How much longer must my community and I endure Juan’s destruction of our municipality before you listen and act?
Kind regards
Ruanda Van Rooyen
And believe me I am experiencing the victimisation and threats from them. This is the text from just one of them, Amanda Swart an ANC Councillor, directed at me,
· Kom 2026 ek gereed vir aksie… die mense wat so baklei en Orania beskerm gaan hard val!!!
· Juan Van Schalkwyk die Speaker van Swellendam Munisipaliteit ek waardeer jou!
· Speaker jy is in my en ek glo die meerderheid van gemeenskap se gebede….. love you!!!
· Vanaand slaap Fransie weer sleg…
· Arme Ruandatjie mamma het altyd gese as Wors vleis word…..
· Tipies hoe sekere mense lieg Ruanda jy het.. lyk my ek is n pyn vir jou…..
· Lmkklaaaa….. iemand my nou gese as krummels koek word my vriendin….. so pasop…..
I believe that the excerpts from Juan Van Schalkwyk’s voice messages, Corne Mulder’s cell phone call and emails forwarded to Corne Mulder and Pieter Groenewald as well as Amanda Swart’s messages says it all. All I am experiencing is the VF Plus support of Juan’s vengeful actions and their silence in this is deafening in Swellendam and Barrydale.
I am going to stick my neck out and say, I know Juan is not going to stop with the suspension of the MM, because he told me so on many occasions and then he is also going after the CFO, Elmarie Wasserman and some more! He keeps on saying, ‘He is gatvol, I am gatvolI, I am gatvol, and that Jaco wants him out by the end of 2024’. The Jaco he is referring to is his partner Jaco Van Schalkwyk (Jaco Wheeler before their marriage). I have come to know his mannerism and hatefulness and yes, the ANC has got him by the neck! Now his PA who I believe has resigned rather quickly, has been saying that he was planning to resign in January 2025. After voting with the ANC to remove the Mayor, I am just asking?
Their lack of professionalism by not acknowledging my emails is now easy to understand and this is going to cost them dearly in the 2026 election. I now understand what Corne Mulder meant in last Sunday’s RAPPORT by saying, ‘EK SAL NET PRAAT AS ZILLE NIE MAG ANTWOORD’.
**** Juan van Shalkwyk has been notified of this article and post, and offered the opportunity to add his comment or send statement for placement **** -The Langeberg Bulletin
#swellendammunicipality #swellendampolitics #swellendam