The FF Plus’ proportional representative councillor, Freddy Robertson, did not declare that he was insolvent before stepping into his position in the City of Mbombela (CoM).

The FF Plus’ spokesperson, Heloïse Denner, admitted that Robertson had been insolvent, but that he claimed he had been unaware of it at the time. However, Lowvelder is in possession of documents from 2019 showing he was declared insolvent before the 2021 local government elections and that he knew about his situation.

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Denner, however, said: “The party investigated the matter and is satisfied that Robertson had not known of his status at the time of the elections and did make the necessary disclosures.” According to her, he has now been rehabilitated.

Denner did not respond to Lowvelder’s questions about why the FF Plus had not done a background check before he was elected to the position or whether he had been rehabilitated before or after the election. She also did not say why, if Robertson had not known he was insolvent, he did he not immediately resign when he found out, or why, when the party learnt about it, they did not ask him to do so.

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Instead she said: “As per my previous response, we consider this matter finalised and will not be providing any further comment.”

The South African Constitution states that no public representative may stand if that person is declared insolvent or until rehabilitation has been exercised by the courts.

The CoM’s municipal manager, Wiseman Khumalo, and speaker, William Nkatha, had not responded to Lowvelder’s enquiries about the matter by the time of publishing.