Ward 2 Development Forum

Theewaterskloof Municipality

Properties3
descriptionThe local municipality for Ward 2, based in Caledon. Since November 2024 it has been under a provincial intervention and, since October 2025, a binding Financial Recovery Plan. This page covers its finances, audits, leadership, and the investigations into it, as of October 2026.
tagstheme/trancraa, lang/en
aliasesTWK, TWKM, Theewaterskloof Local Municipality, Theewaterskloof Munisipaliteit

11 min read

For Theewaterskloof Municipality to review

Theewaterskloof Municipality has not yet seen this page. It describes the municipality only through what it has said or done, through official records, and through what others named here have said about it. Its Economic Development office co-convened the Forum’s first meeting, but the Forum has not discussed this page with the municipality. Until the municipality has replied, the text may change. Questions for Theewaterskloof Municipality:

  1. Who holds the office of Municipal Manager today, and in what capacity?
  2. Has the municipality moved from Phase 1 to Phase 2 of the Financial Recovery Plan?
  3. Were the equitable share transfers withheld in July 2026 released, and what is the municipality doing to protect the December 2026 transfer?
  4. What came of the council’s referral of irregular spending to the MEC in May 2025, and of the investigation into the R41.3 million disaster grant?
  5. How does the municipality propose to deal with the Genadendal accounts, and would it take part in a process with the Transformasie Komitee and the province?
  6. Is any statement on this page wrong, and how would the municipality like it corrected?

Theewaterskloof Municipality is the local municipality for Ward 2 and thirteen other wards, with its seat in Caledon [IC]. Its history, from the boards that ran Genadendal to the merger of December 2000, is on The Municipality. This page describes the municipality today. Since November 2024 it has been under an intervention by the Western Cape Government, and since October 2025 it has worked under a binding Financial Recovery Plan [IC]. In July 2026 National Treasury withheld part of its share of national revenue for failing to deal with irregular and wasteful spending [IC]. Its Economic Development office co-convened the first meeting of the Ward 2 Development Forum on 16 September 2026 [MS].

What the letters in square brackets mean

Facts on this page are followed by a tag that shows where they come from.

  • [IC] Independently Corroborated. Confirmed by an official record, such as a government notice, an audit report, or a court or council record, or by at least two sources that do not depend on each other.
  • [MS] Mission-Sourced. Comes from the municipality’s own website or statements, from a political party or another interested party, or from the Forum’s own records. It has not been checked against sources that do not depend on them.
  • [TBV] To Be Verified. Seems likely, or was reported by a single source, but nobody has confirmed it yet.

Allegations are reported as allegations. Unless this page says a matter was decided by a court or a disciplinary process, it has not been.

At a glance

KindGovernment, local municipality
Based inCaledon
Websitetwk.gov.za
Wards14, of which Ward 2 is one [IC]
StatusUnder a section 139(5) intervention since November 2024, and a Financial Recovery Plan since 7 October 2025 [IC]
Recovery stagePhase 1, Rescue, at the last official report in May 2026 [IC]
Latest auditQualified, 2024/25 [IC]
Link to the valleyDirect. It provides municipal services in Ward 2
Contact with the ForumIn conversation. Its Economic Development office co-convened the Forum [MS]

Its finances

The intervention. The Western Cape Government announced the intervention on 11 November 2024 [IC]. It cited “prolonged financial instability, including mounting debt, severe cash flow issues, and challenges in revenue collection” [IC]. Revenue collection had fallen from over 95% in 2022/23 to 64% in August 2024 [IC]. The intervention was mandatory, because the municipality’s overdue bills had passed the legal threshold [IC]. The plan that followed, what it requires, and what it means for Greyton and Genadendal are set out on Theewaterskloof Financial Recovery Plan.

Progress. The province’s first progress report, adopted in May 2026, found the municipality still in Phase 1 [IC]. It signed a new repayment agreement with Eskom in March 2026 [IC]. The municipality’s report for the quarter ending 31 March 2026 is reported to give a collection rate of 83%, below the plan’s target of 85% for the year [TBV]. The DA has said the municipality’s cash rose from R10.33 million to R34.33 million in one quarter [MS]. The ANC has said total municipal debt passed R400 million and that Eskom arrears grew to over R110 million [MS]. Neither figure matches the official reports.

The equitable share withheld, July 2026. Every municipality receives a share of national revenue, called the equitable share, in instalments through the year. On 7 July 2026 National Treasury withheld the July instalment from 69 municipalities, under section 216(2) of the Constitution and section 38 of the Municipal Finance Management Act [IC]. Theewaterskloof was one of three in the Western Cape, with Laingsburg and Beaufort West [IC]. Treasury’s reasons for the stoppages included unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful spending that had not been dealt with by the councils’ public accounts committees, and a lack of disciplinary and recovery action [IC].

  • The amount withheld from Theewaterskloof was reported as R65.8 million, the largest in the province [TBV].
  • Treasury reportedly found “no evidence of adequate consequence management” at Theewaterskloof, with R397 million in such spending outstanding [TBV].
  • Treasury reportedly set reductions in that backlog as the condition for releasing the money [TBV]. Later reports say the Minister of Finance released the July transfers before the end of the month, and warned that the December 2026 and March 2027 instalments could also be withheld [TBV].

Its audits

YearOutcome
2019/20 to 2021/22Unqualified, with no findings [IC]
2022/23Unqualified, with findings [IC]
2023/24Qualified, with doubt about whether the municipality could keep operating [IC]
2024/25Qualified [IC]

The 2023/24 qualification arose because the municipality could not support how it had spent R41.3 million from the Municipal Disaster Response Grant, given after the floods of September 2023 [IC]. Irregular spending that year stood at R353.2 million in total [IC]. The Municipal Manager later estimated irregular spending at about R350 million for 2024/25 [TBV].

Investigations and allegations

MatterWhat is knownStatus
R41.3 million disaster grantThe Auditor-General found no records supporting the spending [IC]. The mayor said in August 2024 that the previous coalition had redirected the money to operations [MS]. The Municipal Manager said in 2025 that the Hawks were investigating [TBV]No outcome made public. Not tested in court
Backup generators, 2022/23The President authorised the Special Investigating Unit to investigate the buying of 14 backup generators for boreholes and pump stations, by Proclamation R339 of 2026, gazetted 21 August 2026 [IC]Under investigation
Irregular spending from 2022/23Council voted in May 2025 to refer 24 items of irregular, fruitless and wasteful spending to the MEC for Local Government for investigation [TBV]No outcome made public
Rugby World Cup trip, October 2023The then Deputy Mayor and Speaker travelled to the final in France, described in a municipal letter as an “official state visit”; both said they paid for themselves [IC]. The Western Cape Government asked for a Special Investigating Unit probe in March 2024 [IC]Allegation. No outcome made public
Claims of corruption and nepotism, 2018Provincial Treasury looked into claims of graft [TBV]No outcome made public

What residents’ groups have done. In September 2024 four ratepayers’ associations, including the Greyton Union of Taxpayers, went to the Caledon Magistrates’ Court together to stop council meetings while a High Court review of the dismissal of councillors was pending [TBV]. They obtained an interdict, and the council met anyway [TBV]. The Caledon association’s chair called it the first joint legal action by the municipality’s ratepayer bodies [TBV]. The Ward 2 Forum of 2016 to 2019 published a detailed study of the Farm 39 transfer in 2017 [MS]. No published findings of fraud by the Greyton Ratepayers & Residents Organisation, the Greyton Union of Taxpayers, or the earlier Ward 2 Forum have been found. If you hold such findings, see Have your say.

Its leadership

The municipality’s political and administrative leadership has changed often since 2021 [IC]. As of October 2026:

  • Executive Mayor. Lincoln de Bruyn (DA) [MS]. The council removed him on 1 October 2026 [IC], and is reported to have reversed the removal about two weeks later, after a legal demand from the DA [TBV].
  • Deputy Mayor. Cynthia Clayton (GOOD), who also chairs the Economic Development portfolio [MS].
  • Speaker. Welldon Wells (GOOD) [MS].
  • Ward 2 councillor. Chris Cloete (DA, based in Greyton), who also chairs Financial Services [MS].
  • Municipal Manager. Walter Hendricks was appointed on a fixed-term contract from 1 July 2025 [IC]. Through 2026 he was reported to be suspended, and an acting Municipal Manager was named [TBV]. Who holds the office today has not been confirmed from an official source.
  • Council. 27 seats. The governing coalition of the DA, GOOD, and SRWP is reported to hold 14 [TBV].

Local government elections are due on 4 November 2026 [TBV]. The new council will elect its office-bearers, set up new ward committees, and adopt the next budget and Integrated Development Plan inside the limits of the recovery plan.

How its work reaches the valley

  • Services. Water, sanitation, refuse, and roads in the ward [TBV]. It supplies electricity in Greyton, while Genadendal is supplied directly by Eskom [IC].
  • Farm 39. The municipality was given the first duty to propose how Farm 39 would be transferred under TRANCRAA, and it does not provide full basic services at Madiba Park [IC]. See TRANCRAA and Farm 39 and Madiba Park: Land Status and Basic Services.
  • Genadendal accounts. The recovery plan puts Genadendal at about a fifth of the debt owed to the municipality [IC]. In 2019 the High Court allowed two Genadendal residents to defend the municipality’s claims for debt on TRANCRAA grounds [IC].
  • Provincial support. The province funded R1.65 million to upgrade the raw water storage at Voorstekraal in 2025/26, and in August 2026 the MEC for Local Government announced further support to continue after the formal intervention [IC]. See Western Cape Government.

Where it touches this site

What is still open

  • Who is lawfully Municipal Manager, and whether the Chief Financial Officer is in post.
  • Whether the July 2026 conditions on the equitable share were met.
  • The outcomes of the Hawks investigation, the May 2025 referral, the 2018 probe, and the Rugby World Cup request.
  • What the Greyton ratepayers’ bodies and the 2016 to 2019 Ward 2 Forum found about the municipality’s finances.

Have your say

If you can confirm or correct anything on this page, or hold records of what residents’ groups found, contact the moderators via How to Submit.

References

Graph View

Backlinks