KNYSNA NEWS - The DA have described the ANC walkout at a Knysna special closed council meeting on Friday, July 15 as shameful and cowardly.
This follows a dramatic move on Friday when in a special closed council meeting about the suspension of municipal manager Grant Easton, Stephen de Vries, chief whip of the Knysna ANC, led his fellow ANC councillors out of the meeting in protest against Easton’s suspension.
There was thus no quorum to even proceed with the meeting. De Vries after the meeting said, “We walked out because they didn't want to take part in the proceedings to suspend Easton.”
De Vries said the ANC believe there are not significant reasons to suspend Easton at this stage. Easton was to give his written response explaining why he should not be suspended by July 12.
At a special council meeting held on Tuesday, July 5, the Knysna council considered allegations of serious misconduct made by a member of the public against Easton. The council decided, after taking into account the relevant legislative provisions, to appoint an independent investigator to probe the allegations.
The outcome of Friday’s meeting means Easton stays on as municipal manager, even if the investigation against him proceeds.
Peter Myers, DA Knysna constituency leader, in a press release on July 18 said, “The DA has condemned the ANC walkout of a special council meeting as an act of gross irresponsibility, and has labelled it as clear evidence that the ANC is totally unfit to govern.
“The Knysna municipal council held the special council meeting to consider the municipal manager’s written response to council’s request for reasons why he should not be suspended pending the investigation.
“The municipal manager’s written response was considered and debated. When it came time to take a vote the ANC councillors staged a walkout, which resulted in the council no longer having a quorum. This resulted in the council not being able to take a decision on whether to institute a precautionary suspension or not.
• the serious nature of the complaints received;
• the previously taken unanimous decision of council, including all the ANC councillors present, that there was reasonable cause to believe that acts of misconduct had been committed; and
• the indication received from the appointed investigators that should council not resolve to suspend the municipal manager, their investigation would be impeded,
the DA unequivocally condemned the ANC walkout, saying that when it came to the hard decisions necessary to govern effectively, the ANC’s answer is to walk away.
The DA slammed what they called “this shameful behaviour” and said they hoped all of the residents of Knysna would take this into account when they went into the voting booth in the local elections on August 3.
Myers, who is also the Knysna DA spokesperson, added, “In contrast to the ANC, the DA has demonstrated that it is totally committed to good, clean and responsible governance, and would always be prepared to take the tough decisions.” He said it was obvious that in this case the correct decision would have been for a precautionary suspension of the municipal manager, while the investigation or any further possible proceedings were ongoing.
Myers confirmed that in spite of the ANC’s obstructionist behaviour, the investigation would proceed and the final report with recommendations would be presented to the council at the appropriate time.
De Vries commented as follows on the DA press release today, July 18:
“The ANC rejects with contempt the notion that it wants to protect the municipal manager and obstruct the investigation. The ANC wants to ensure that the process is fair with the minimum cost to the residents of Knysna.
“At the last council meeting the appointed investigators express their view in a brief letter that if the municipal manager is not suspended, the investigation would be impeded. This is a bad practice in government that officials are suspended without any evidence, that they will impede an investigation.
“The executive mayor could not answer any questions whether there was evidence that the municipal manager is obstructing the investigation. We maintain that the DA has taken the decision to suspend prior to the letter of the investigator last week, with their previous council resolution to give notice of precautionary suspension.
“The ANC reconfirm its support for the allegations to be investigated, and call on all officials to assist and provide information as requested from the investigators. The ANC will reconsider its position on suspension if evidence is provided that municipal manager is obstructing the investigation.”
In the meantime, the complainant who filed the charges against Easton, said they want to stay anonymous at this stage, but are adamant the DA has nothing to do with filing the investigation.
“I commend the DA for dealing with the complaint according to law. I would prefer this matter not to be played out in the public and I would like to give the ANC a last chance to attend the meeting and do the right thing.”
The complainant said that the nature of their complaint was “racism relating to a tender”.
ARTICLE: CHRISTO VERMAAK, KNYSNA-PLETT HERALD NEWS EDITOR
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