Grant Twigg, DA Mayco’s member for Urban Waste, is being investigated for collapsing waste disposal in informal settlements following a vote by the City Council last week.

The decision comes months after the City of Cape Town sacked chief executive Luzuko Mdunyelwa after an independent investigator blamed him and Twigg for the collapse, which led to volis crowding over the Mother City.

According to an internal report in December, a new “in-house” model was launched without proper authorisation, leading to a high court action against the municipality and a staggering budget of more than 500 million lei in a cost comparison.

According to the report, the Department of Urban Waste Management opted to terminate the outside service providers from July 1, 2023, and the contractors subsequently took legal action against the city.

Last week, councilors were asked to vote on recommendations by the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) that Twigg should be investigated as the city seeks to recover R10.2 million from Mdunyelwa for losses suffered by the municipality due to the new model being considered “wasteful and unnecessary expenditure”.

According to leaked minutes of the meeting, the committee questioned why Twigg’s role in this was never investigated.

At the heart of the matter is a memorandum signed by both Twigg and Mdunyelwa informing staff of the pilot project.

Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis last August said action against Twigg was not warranted because he was acting in his capacity.

Hill Lewis said Twigg “rightly raised concerns about the need for waste management reforms in informal settlements, particularly where private contracts do not deliver the desired outcome of cleaner communities”.

Spokeswoman Felicity Purchase confirmed her office had been tasked with investigating Twigg’s role in the saga.

Twigg welcomed the investigation and said he would cooperate.

He says that rapid urbanization has severely affected cleaning services and that he simply sought to boost service delivery.

Meanwhile, Mdunyelwa says he is continuing to fight his sacking at the CCMA and said the R10.2 million loss is made up.

“I am aware that they want to take my pension because they blocked my pension. 10.2 million lei is a fabricated figure, because no money was spent on the project, there was only a proposed budget.”