KNYSNA NEWS - Knysna Municipality has elected not to entertain claims by the Hornlee Housing Committee (HHC) that it used funds from the Covid-19 disaster relief fund to supply electricity to the new Fountain Valley housing site in Hornlee.
The housing issue in Hornlee has been the cause of several community protests over the years, which included the blocking of roads and burning of debris.
In October 2019, Hornlee's first housing project in nearly two decades started at the main site adjacent to Hornlee Primary School, which later became known as Fountain Valley.
After delays due to Covid-19, construction was completed in August 2020, but Fountain Valley was only connected to Knysna's electrical grid four months later.
HHC secretary Lynn Kayster said, "We were not happy at all with the fact that it took so long to get electricity for the residents of Fountain Valley, so we asked for answers from the municipality."
The dissent culminated in a meeting between HHC members, acting municipal manager Dawie Adonis, and Acting Director of Integrated Human Settlements Lindile Petuna on 13 January.
In the meeting, the HHC received the answers it was looking for, but was far from happy with what it heard. According to Kayster they learned that, when the financial year-end came, the chief financial officer at the time, Mbulelo Memani, reallocated the funding meant for Fountain Valley to electrify other settlements in Knysna, instead of having the funding roll over to the following financial year.
"We were told there had been pressure on the chief financial officer (CFO) from the mayor, and to supply the electricity, Memani reallocated funding from the Covid-19 disaster relief fund to electrify Fountain Valley," Kayster said.
Memani resigned from his position as CFO in October 2020, and two months later Fountain Valley was electrified.
In response to the accusations, municipal spokesperson Christopher Bezuidenhoudt said,
"There were delays due to compliance to supply chain matters, in respect of appointing a suitable service provider to carry out various activities applicable to the project.
"The matter has since been resolved. As such, service providers for the design of electricity services for the Hornlee Housing Project have been sourced and [these processes] are at advanced stages. This is to ensure electrification takes place timeously. We are unable to comment further on submissions by the Hornlee Housing Committee."
'We bring you the latest Knysna, Garden Route news'
