Dr Ralph Links, previously from the Central Karoo District Municipality in Beaufort West, has been appointed as the Acting Municipal Manager of Bitou Municipality. He replaces the former Municipal Manager, Mbulelo Memani, who was suspended after allegations of corruption and misconduct.

The appointment comes after Mayor Claude Terblanche, representing the current ANC-led coalition, signed Links' secondment document in his office. According to local sources, Links’ nomination was pushed by Gayton McKenzie, whose party, the Patriotic Alliance, is one of the ANC’s coalition partners in Bitou. He had previously been appointed to the Central Karoo municipality by the PA as well.

A statement from Bitou Municipality highlights Links' prior experience with the municipality, having served as the LED & IDP Manager in 2002 and later as the Head of Strategic Management and Planning, until May of 2012.

However, the Plettenberg Bay Ratepayers’ Association has raised concerns about the appointment. When the DA took over in 2011, they ignored a wealth of serious corruption allegations and preserved the employment of several corrupt ANC cadres, Links included.

The exchange of power in Bitou in 2011 is a peculiar story, with many moving parts. But the overarching feature is a broad amnesty for ANC corruption which subsequently infected the DA.

The failure of the DA to deal with the corruption it inherited has led to the alleged perpetrators being promoted and allowed to continue their corrupt activities untouched for over a decade.

Ralph Links is only a very small piece of this puzzle, but links him to characters who remain central features of the DA's political team.

When Links was the Head of Strategic Services, Policy, and Human Settlements at Bitou Municipality, he was accused of fraud by DA Councillor Johann Brummer (the same Brummer who the DA expelled and persecuted for blowing the whistle on corruption and misconduct by DA mayor Memory Booysen).

Brummer made these accusations during the last ordinary Council meeting before the 2011 municipal elections, citing documentation related to a corruption complaint against several individuals, including Links.

According to Brummer, the complaint alleges that Links received a fraudulent payment of R20,000 from Xylophone Investments, colluding with other individuals to defraud the Bitou Municipality.

The documentation includes a transaction record suggesting that Links benefitted from a deal with Xylophone Investments shortly after they received payment for services rendered during a Department of Trade and Industry event.

However, Estelle Gie, who has a 49% share in Xylophone Investments, denied the allegations, stating that the payment was made in error to her partner's account. She provided a payment receipt to support her explanation.

Rowan Spies, another individual implicated in the complaint, also denied any arrangement with Links regarding payments. Rowan is the husband of Eleanor Bouw-Spies, who despite several credible corruption allegations, has been protected and promoted by the DA for years.

According to the FNB account record three payments were made for R14 500, R14 500 and R20 000 respectively in three transactions described as "Estel Drawing Xphone", "Drawing Rowan", and "Pmt Ralph".

Bitou Municipality has suspended the signing of a lease agreement for a beachfront property, trading as a restaurant called Mobi Dick, which was awarded to Xylophone Investments. Xylophone, (which according to public records never filed accounts), falsely claimed to be a partner of the well-known and respectable Featherbed Company, causing the Featherbed Company to issue a letter denying the partnership.

The inability to deliver the tourism-related services offered by the shell company led to a disciplinary hearing for Ralph Links, where it was decided that his conduct was illegal. The matter was under investigation by the municipal manager, and the police also investigated the case.

But nothing became of this. All involved parties were protected. Links took off to Amathole municipality after his lawyer claimed he had resigned for “health reasons”, and had to move somewhere more inland. Thys Giliomee, the DA acting municipal manager, accepted this explanation, and chose not to press charges for corruption.

Giliomee was picked for the job by Helen Zille, and parachuted out after handling the handover of the local administration, and moved to the Western Cape Liquor Authority for four years before moving to the Mosselbaai administration.

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