There is no evidence of political intervention or clientelism in the files of Anderlecht's Public Centre for Social Welfare, CPAS, Mayor Fabrice Cumps (PS) said on Monday evening during a debate in the city’s municipal council.
The Anderlecht mayor was reacting to a November documentary by the VRT's investigative programme Pano on alleged social welfare fraud in the Brussels municipality.
CPAS provide financial assistance to people who do not have a minimum income, among other services. Following a tipoff about irregularities at the CPAS in Anderlecht, Pano reporters went undercover, posing as Anderlecht residents looking for financial support, and were given thousands of euros in retroactive social welfare benefits.
The documentary also reported that the Centre systematically provided energy assistance to people who were not entitled to it.
The Anderlecht mayor acknowledged the existence of “technical errors” and pointed to a misinterpretation of regulations by the CPAS services.
Regarding the incorrect granting of energy assistance, he suggested there might have been mistakes.
“I have no information about a structural system of individual privileges,” Cumps asserted. He also emphasised the importance of political leaders being “approachable” to avoid accusations of being isolated in an ivory tower.
While social investigations “should have been more thorough,” the situation primarily highlights the CPAS’ lack of resources, Cumps said. He attributed the technical errors to a structural staff shortage that prevents quality work.
In 2024, 16 of the 31 vacancies for social workers remain unfilled, leading to an “out-of-control” workload, according to the mayor, while the number of applications for support increased by 35% between 2020 and 2023.
“It is undeniable that there were technical errors and gaps in internal control mechanisms,” Cumps concluded, “but to say the Anderlecht CPAS does ‘anything and everything’ is incorrect.”
Former CPAS chairman Mustapha Akouz (PS) declined to go any further into the Pano documentary at the municipal council meeting, reserving his responses for a Social Affairs Parliamentary Committee on Tuesday.
However, he admitted that a remark he had made, to the effect that he was "a socialist and proud of it,” was unfortunate and apologised for inflaming the situation for an organisation that otherwise does excellent work.
The former CPAS chair stressed the importance of taking the context of his comment into consideration to understand it. “Yes, I was taken aback, but I never spoke about clientelism,” he said.
