Oudtshoorn, 26 May 2016 – The Administrator of the Greater Oudtshoorn Mr. Kam Chetty expressed serious concern following a discovery of more than 20 rubbish black plastic bags full of shredded paper found in a secluded Municipal office this week.
These bags were found on Monday, 23 May 2016 in a locked in a small office during a routine inventory audit of Municipal assets that is being conducted by the Municipal Asset Management office. Attempts to enter this office, which had always been locked proved futile, as no-one had keys to the office.
The office of the Municipal Manager engaged a local locksmith to unlock the office, during which over 20 bags full of shredder papers were found inside this office with the shredder. “This for me raises a serious concern; especially because no one can explain who shredded these documents; what these documents contained and who authorized the shredding of these documents,” said Mr. Chetty.
“We do not suspect foul play against anyone at this stage, but we would have to establish the nature of information that was shredded. If the information is illegal, the Administration would act accordingly.”
The Acting Municipal Manager has instructed that the incident has been reported to the SAPS to conduct some pre-liminary investigations, the shredded paper would also be handed to the Forensic Investigation team to ensure that, even though no foul play is suspected against any one at this stage, we don’t leave any stone unturned.”
“The administration team has been appointed to ensure that the interests of the citizens of the Greater Oudtshoorn are being upheld this also includes preservation of the Municipal property and assets. The onus is therefore on us to ensure that this task is done meticulously and transparently,” Chetty concluded.