Patriotic Alliance leader and Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie. (Photo: Gallo Images / Frennie Shivambu) The legal battle over Gayton McKenzie’s controversial Central Karoo fundraising campaign has entered a decisive new phase, with the Patriotic Alliance leader and Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture turning to the Gauteng high court to stop a provincial forensic investigation before its findings are made public.
In papers filed on 2 July, McKenzie is seeking a declaratory order halting the investigation instituted on 23 August 2023 by Western Cape MEC for Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning Anton Bredell into the affairs of Central Karoo District Municipality.
/file/attachments/orphans/ED_4562262_656125.jpg "Western Cape MEC for Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning Anton Bredell. (Photo: Gallo Images / ER Lombard)")
The application is also brought by E Botha & Associates Inc (also known as E Botha and Y Erasmus Inc), the law firm whose managing director, Eugene Botha, has served as McKenzie’s personal attorney, strategic adviser and the Patriotic Alliance’s national head of legal affairs.
Also cited is Fezicube (Pty) Ltd, the event management company that organised the Bring New Life to the Desert gala dinner in Sandton in May 2022, where about R3-million was raised for projects in the Central Karoo.
On Wednesday, 22 July, Bredell confirmed he would oppose McKenzie’s high court application to terminate the Western Cape Government’s Section 106 investigation into the Central Karoo District Municipality.
The Central Karoo District Municipality and the two appointed forensic investigators are also cited as respondents.
At the centre of the dispute is the Bring New Life to the Desert fundraising campaign launched by the Central Karoo District Municipality to attract private-sector funding for service delivery projects.
The controversy stems from allegations that the R3-million raised was never deposited into the municipality’s official bank account, but was instead administered outside its normal financial systems — the central focus of the Western Cape government’s forensic investigation.
The 90-day question at the heart of the challenge
At the core of Gayton McKenzie’s high court application is a single legal question with potentially far-reaching consequences: what happens when a Section 106 investigation extends well beyond the 90-day period stipulated in the Municipal Systems Act?
McKenzie argues that the expiry of the statutory period did more than create a procedural defect. In his view, it extinguished the legal authority underpinning the investigation, rendering every subsequent investigative step unlawful. On that basis, he contends the probe has become moot, no longer serves any purpose contemplated by the Municipal Systems Act and cannot lawfully continue or produce a final report.
His challenge rests on two pillars. First, that the investigation has outlived the authority granted by the Municipal Systems Act. Second, that investigators have exceeded the powers that Parliament intended provincial MECs to exercise when intervening in municipal affairs.
The dispute centres on the Act’s reporting requirement, which provides that investigators appointed under Section 106 must submit a report to the MEC within 90 days.
According to McKenzie, that statutory clock began running when MEC Bredell appointed investigators in August 2023. Nearly two years later, the investigation remains unfinished.
According to McKenzie, the missed deadline is not a procedural irregularity that can simply be overlooked. Instead, he contends that the expiry of the 90-day period has extinguished the legal authority underpinning the investigation itself.
But the application goes further than the question of timing.
McKenzie also argues that investigators have expanded the inquiry beyond what Section 106 permits. He maintains that the legislation is designed to investigate allegations of maladministration within a municipality, not to conduct an extensive forensic examination of private financial arrangements associated with a fundraising campaign.
According to the application, investigators have moved beyond scrutinising municipal governance and instead focused on the mechanisms through which donations were received, administered and distributed, an approach McKenzie argues falls outside the purpose of the legislation.
A further strand of the application is the allegation that the investigation became increasingly politicised.
McKenzie claims that investigators made relatively little progress during the early stages of the probe and that the investigation only gathered momentum as the 2024 general election approached, suggesting that political considerations influenced its trajectory.
Notably, however, the application stops short of denying the underlying facts that prompted the investigation.
McKenzie does not dispute that the fundraising campaign took place or that donations were handled outside the municipality’s ordinary financial structures.
Instead, he argues that the fundraising initiative has been treated, in his words, “as though it was shrouded in corruption”, despite there being no allegation in his application that any of the donated funds were stolen, misappropriated or diverted for personal enrichment.
Bredell: It’s an attempt to derail accountability
Bredell argues that McKenzie’s latest high court application is not an isolated legal challenge, but the latest step in what he describes as a sustained campaign to obstruct a statutory investigation into the handling of public funds raised for the Central Karoo District Municipality.
Opposing the application, Bredell said the litigation followed a succession of unsuccessful attempts by McKenzie to resist cooperating with investigators appointed under Section 106 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act.
According to Bredell, after McKenzie declined to provide information requested by investigators, the provincial government approached the Western Cape high court in May 2024 for a compliance order compelling his cooperation.
The high court ruled in the province’s favour, ordering McKenzie to hand over the requested information and assist the forensic investigation.
Rather than comply, Bredell said, McKenzie embarked on a series of appeals that ultimately reached the Constitutional Court. Those challenges were dismissed at every level, first by the high court, then the Supreme Court of Appeal, followed by the President of the Supreme Court of Appeal, before the Constitutional Court finally dismissed the matter in April 2026.
With all avenues of appeal exhausted, Bredell says the legal obligation to cooperate became final, and fresh correspondence was sent requiring McKenzie to comply with the existing court order.
‘Legitimate concerns’
Bredell maintains that the investigation was initiated because of legitimate concerns over the management of money raised for municipal purposes.
The investigation centres on allegations that proceeds from the Bring New Life to the Desert fundraising campaign were not deposited into the municipality’s official bank account, raising questions about whether public donations were administered outside the financial controls required by municipal legislation.
Those concerns, along with what Bredell describes as broader governance issues within the municipality, justified an independent forensic investigation under the Municipal Systems Act.
The MEC further noted that the investigation had also been obstructed by failures to comply with lawful investigative processes and court orders requiring cooperation with the investigators.
“Instead of answering legitimate questions, Mr McKenzie has repeatedly sought to avoid scrutiny through litigation. Every delay serves only to postpone accountability to the residents of the Central Karoo,” Bredell said.
‘Dangerous precedent’
McKenzie’s latest application argues that the province’s authority to continue the investigation expired after four months. Minister Bredell rejects this interpretation of the law and believes it is inconsistent with both the purpose of the Municipal Systems Act and the province’s constitutional responsibility to exercise oversight over local government.
Bredell believes that it would fundamentally undermine provincial oversight powers and frustrate the constitutional obligation to ensure municipalities are properly governed.
He argues that accepting McKenzie’s interpretation would create a dangerous precedent.
“The practical consequence of Mr McKenzie’s interpretation would be that any municipality or public official under investigation could simply delay matters until the statutory period expires and thereby escape proper scrutiny. That cannot have been Parliament’s intention,” he said.
Bredell says the Western Cape Government remains confident that the high court will dismiss what it regards as another procedural attempt to prevent investigators from completing their work.
“This latest application is a cynical attempt to frustrate the wheels of justice. The residents of the Central Karoo deserve transparency, accountability and the truth. The Western Cape Government will continue to defend its constitutional responsibility to ensure good governance in municipalities, regardless of who may be implicated,” he said.
Questions first raised by opposition councillor
Long before the matter reached court, then Democratic Alliance councillor Schaun Meyers, now ActionSA’s Central Karoo regional chairperson, questioned whether the Bring New Life to the Desert fundraising campaign complied with the Municipal Finance Management Act and Municipal Systems Act.
His concern was not whether projects were delivered, but whether the R3-million raised for municipal purposes was lawfully received and accounted for after allegations that it was not deposited into the municipality’s official bank account.
Meyers’ complaint was among the information considered by Bredell before he invoked Section 106 and appointed forensic investigators in 2023.
Meyers told Daily Maverick on Wednesday, 22 July 2026, that no comprehensive report on the fundraising had been presented to council.
“The amount of approximately R3-million referred to in the media and on social media was, to my knowledge, not deposited into the municipality’s official bank account as required by the Municipal Finance Management Act,” he said.
He argued that McKenzie’s latest bid to halt the investigation only reinforced the need for it to be completed.
“The court order should be fully complied with so that the investigation can be concluded, the facts established and the public can receive clarity on how these funds were handled,” Meyers said. DM