Bredell urged to action against council

KNYSNA NEWS - Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning Anton Bredell has been called upon to take swift action and dissolve the current Knysna Municipality Council.

The calls initially came from ActionSA and its WC Chairperson Michelle Wasserman, with the Knysna Independent Movement (Kim) quickly following suit and echoing ActionSA's sentiments.

"The recent reports of Knysna Municipality's financial and non-financial performance are extremely concerning,"

Wasserman said in the ActionSA statement. "In the Quarter Four Report, tabled to Council on 31 July 2023, the Executive Mayor reported that 'As at 30 June 2023 the commitments still exceed the cash and cash equivalents. The cashflow position remains a critical concern.'"

Multiple issues on hand

According to Wasserman a warning in the report regarding the current ratios stated that "urgent and immediate intervention is required to ensure that a realistic and achievable financial turnaround strategy is developed and implemented with immediate effect."

She pointed out that this is despite a turnaround strategy already having been adopted by council in May.

In addition to the 'financial crisis' as described by Wasserman, she isolated recent appointments that have been made in key administrative positions within the municipality.

"Service delivery in Knysna is at an all-time low with infrastructure not being maintained, large parts of Knysna being left without water for days, delays in waste removal and an ongoing rat infestation in the CBD," she said.

Susan Campbell

Dissolving the council

"Section 139(5) of the Constitution requires that, under these circumstances, Minister Bredell dissolve the Municipal Council and appoint an administrator. ActionSA urges Minister Bredell to urgently implement the administration process, as this is the only way to stop the financial and service delivery free-fall that Knysna Municipality is currently in."

Kim's Susan Campbell reiterated the service delivery failures, as well as the call for intervention in terms of Section 139, but not quite to the extent that Wasserman is calling for. "We join with ActionSA in urging intervention by MEC Bredell in terms of section 139(5) of the Constitution, however we disagree with Wasserman's call to disband Council," Campbell said.

Premature action

"Any such action would be premature and will no doubt lead to another legal dispute between Knysna Municipality and Anton Bredell, thereby further depleting the legal budget of the municipality. We support intervention from MEC Bredell in terms of section 139(5)(a)... in terms of which the MEC must impose a recovery plan aimed at securing the municipality's ability to meet its obligations to provide basic services or its financial commitments. Should the municipality fail to implement the necessary measures, we would request the MEC to assume responsibility for the implementation of the recovery plan to the extent that the municipality cannot or does not otherwise implement the recovery plan."

Knysna Mayor Aubrey Tsengwa stated that he felt any Section 139 action would be premature.

"Currently, the municipality is engaged in a collaborative effort with the Department of Monitoring and Evaluation within the Presidency. This collaborative endeavor involves a Presidential delegation that is actively assisting the municipality in bolstering the effectiveness of the Local Government Municipal Infrastructure Management (LGMIM) initiative," Tsengwa said.

"Pertinent challenges stemming from vacant senior management positions have been successfully addressed through the appointment of competent departmental directors. Furthermore, it is of significance to highlight that our revenue enhancement strategies have yielded remarkable improvements."

Anton Bredell did not reply to a request for comment at the time of going to print.

Ombali Sebola