The Govan Mbeki Municipality has confirmed on Friday, 4 December that no agreement consists between the municipality and Mr Etienne de Ru regarding the upgrading and renovation of the Bethal Dam Resort.
In a letter to the Ridge Times, Mr Bheki Kubheka, acting head of Marketing and Communications at the municipality, said they can confirm that a proposal was received from Mr De Ru to revamp the resort and he requested permission to access the dam for assessment of work to be done and the cost.
“Out of his own initiative, he decided to clean up the area and began with minor repairs which was brought to our attention.
“He was stopped because he did not have permission to do so.”
Mr De Ru told the Ridge Times on Wednesday, 2 December that he had already spent more than R60 000 on the cleaning of the dam hall and surrounding area, on renovating the putt putt course, the changing rooms, as well as the swimming pool and the super tube.
He had many plans for the resort and said the contract with the municipality should have been signed two weeks ago.
“I do not need to spend my money in Bethal and if the contract is not signed by 16 December, I will rather spend it elsewhere,” he said.
According to Mr De Ru, everything is in place for the project to go ahead, but somehow the process seems to have been stalled.
“I am dedicated to see this through, but I am not going to spend more money if the contract is not signed by 16 December.”
In a previous interview, Mr De Ru said he has a five-year contract with the municipality to rent the resort.
He also said the renovated resort will open in the last week in November, which did not realise.
Mr De Ru’s plan was to make the Bethal Dam Resort a family place that is open to all races, with a putt putt course, a swimming pool, a super tube, paddle boats on the dam, jumping castles, swings, a volley ball court, an internet shop, a coffee shop, a take-away restaurant, pool tables, a game arcade, and more.
He promised security guards and life guards will be on hand and said the cost just to renovate the resort, will amount to R500 000.
According to Mr Kubheka, the municipality is a government institution bound by legislation and processes which must be followed at all times, no matter how lucrative the proposal is.
“The competitive processes must always be followed to avoid being accused of being biased towards other service providers and this is the process that will be followed with the revamping of Bethal Dam.”
The Ridge Times phoned Mr De Ru on Friday morning and according to him, he was in a meeting and asked that we phone him back in half an hour.
We phoned him back, but he did not answer his phone.
He replied by SMS that he was in a meeting at the mine and would phone back when he was finished.
At the time of going to press, Mr De Ru has not returned the call.
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