Swellendam Municipality is yet to shed any further light on several procedural irregularities identified at a roadblock which took place on May 30, 2025.
In both respective press statements issued by Municipal Manager Anneleen Vorster and Executive Mayor Francois du Rand, the stance was taken that the claims lacked factual evidence and that the News62 reports were speculative.
“It raised concerns about the motives of certain so-called whistleblowers and online ‘news’ entities,” Vorster said.
This online “news” entity has confirmed that the irregularities at the roadblock are but the tip of the iceberg. It is becoming clearer by the day that millions of rands of the taxpayers has been lost or mismanaged over the years.
News62 hereby calls on the government to launch an independent forensic audit into the administration of the Swellendam Traffic Department.
No Rest for the Wicked
The first report highlighting blatant misconduct at the roadblock was published on Sunday June 1. The following day, whistleblowers stationed at the Swellendam Traffic Department notified News62 that Superintendent Gershan Jansen had arrived at the office—in full uniform.
Granted, on any other Monday, this would be normal practice, except that Jansen was supposed to be on leave. Documentation confirming that his annual leave had been approved was sent to the News62 office.
News62 then informed top management at Swellendam Municipality of the situation and recommended that the traffic offices be shut down immediately to prevent potential tampering with documents relating to the irregularities or other possibly corrupt activities.
This request fell on deaf ears, and Jansen continued to spend the rest of his holiday at work. As of Saturday, June 7, no official investigation – internal or otherwise – has been launched by the municipality.
Big Brother Is Watching
Jansen’s decision to spend his annual leave in his office wasn’t the only strange thing to happen at the Swellendam Traffic offices this week.
CCTV cameras were installed inside the Traffic Office building to keep close tabs on the workforce.
The interesting part? This installation was not approved by Council, was not reflected in any budget, and News62 has been reliably informed that the funds came from top-ranking officials – and that only these top dogs have access to the recordings.
News62 would like to list the number of laws broken with this stunt, which was clearly aimed at intimidating our whistleblowers – but we’ll delve into that in our next article.
It is as clear as rain: only an independent forensic audit will ensure that the interests of the community and the taxpayers are protected.
Note: News62 would like to thank each of the whistleblowers (aka the dream team) who have helped us to keep the community informed.
