Nelson Mandela Bay Deputy Mayor Gary van Niekerk has opened a perjury case against ACDP councillor Lance Grootboom. Grootboom dismissed the allegations as a deflection tactic amid Van Niekerk's own pending corruption trial.
Nelson Mandela Bay Deputy Mayor Gary van Niekerk opened a perjury case against ACDP councillor Lance Grootboom at Humewood police station on 7 June. He also filed a motion to refer Grootboom to the council’s rules and ethics committee, the MEC for Cooperative Governance and the Legal Practice Council. Van Niekerk faces charges of cyberfraud and contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act over a legal bill exceeding R550,000 from 2022. He said the perjury allegations stem from Grootboom’s contradictory statements in 2022 court proceedings and a later criminal complaint. Grootboom rejected the claims, stating they rely on a distortion of events from different dates. He said his affidavits addressed separate circumstances and that Van Niekerk is attempting to distract from his own trial. The matter is scheduled to return to court on 24 July to narrow issues, with no trial date set before November’s local government elections.