Western Cape Health MEC Mireille Wenger and Education MEC David Maynier on Tuesday, remained silent on criminal charges opened against them for allegedly tabling a “fake” provincial budget ahead of the 2024 national and provincial elections.
The two MECs told Inside Politics they were “still studying” the charges and affidavits lodged by GOOD party secretary-general Brett Herron, who opened the case at a Cape Town police station on Monday.
Herron said he laid the charges after the MECs failed to provide satisfactory answers to questions he raised in various forums, including the provincial legislature.
He accused Wenger and Maynier of tabling “falsely balanced provincial budgets to present a rosy picture of the province’s finances ahead of last year’s general election.”
Contacted for comment, Wenger and Maynier said: “Unfortunately, an interview will not be possible at this stage. We are aware of the complaint. We are currently studying the affidavit and will provide a substantive response in due course.”
Also named in the complaint are provincial accounting officer Julinda Gantana and Brent Walters, head of the Department of Education.
Herron alleged that the 2024 Western Cape Budget, tabled by Wenger on 7 March 2024, underfunded educator posts in the Department of Education by R3.8 billion.
He said both MECs knew of the shortfall but chose to present the budget as balanced and sustainable.
According to Herron, the alleged misrepresentation occurred just two months before the May 2024 general election and was “politically motivated to conceal the shortfall and create the impression of sound provincial finances.”
He said that as early as November 2023, both MECs had been informed of the impact of the 2023 public-service wage agreement and national budget cuts.
The provincial education department had approved 37,135 educator posts for 2024/25, but the funds allocated were insufficient to cover the costs.
On 28 August 2024, Maynier publicly admitted to a R3.8 billion shortfall and confirmed that 2,400 educator posts would be cut.
Herron said treasury and education officials later acknowledged that “nothing changed” between March and August, confirming the shortfall was known at the time of tabling.
“After the election, the MECs somersaulted, declaring a budget shortfall of R3.8 billion in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and culling thousands of teacher posts,” Herron said.
“They blamed the shortfall on developments at national government level, citing the public-service wage agreement. But there were no major fiscal developments in those five months — and the province was fully aware of the wage deal long before presenting its balanced books.”
INSIDE POLITICS
