Fury over ANC man’s three-year ‘rent-free’ beachfront chalet stay

An Eastern CapeANCcouncillor may find himself in hot water for allegedly living rent-free for the past three years in a beachfront chalet in KuGompo City. The chalet is situated in the Gonubie Caravan Park Resort, which is owned by the Buffalo City Metro. The Special Investigating Unit (SIU)may investigate the allegations involvingBCMward councillor Thulani Tempi, whose lengthy stay at the resort has reportedly resulted in the city losing more than R1.5m in potential revenue.

Parliament’sstanding committee on public accounts (Scopa)chair, Songezo Zibi, confirmed on Thursday that he would be referring the matter to the SIU. BCM bosses who appeared before Zibi’s committee on Wednesday denied any knowledge of the saga. It is understood that Tempi, a Ward 45 councillor who was recently appointed the ANC’s Dr WB Rubusana regional spokesperson, had been staying in the chalet since February 2023.

Numerous attempts to contact Tempi on his different contact numbers were unsuccessful on Thursday, and BCM spokesperson Bongani Fuzile had not responded to questions by the time of publication. However, it is understood that Tempi checked out of the chalet on Thursday morning, just hours after the accusations surfaced in parliament. The councillor’s stay at the resort was raised by Zibi, during a heated Scopa meeting that lasted more than 12 hours.

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The meeting was attended by a high-powered BCM delegation led by mayor Princess Faku and city manager Mxolisi Yawa. The metro bosses appeared before Scopa on Wednesday to account for several service delivery, financial management and audit-related matters. When Zibi questioned the BCM delegation about Tempi’s alleged stay at the caravan park, Faku was quick to deny any knowledge of the matter.

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