Fourore over new directors

KNYSNA NEWS - The DA is up in arms about the permanent appointments of four directors to the Knysna Council and has referred the matter to the WC Minister of Local Government, Anton Bredell, for scrutiny.

At the root of their dismay are various allegations relating to alleged financial misconduct and competency by the four appointed.

The four appointments are Olga Ndlovu as CFO; Adv Luvuyo Loliwe as Director of Corporate Services; Lindile Petuna as Director of Integrated Human Settlements; and Andiswa Dunywa as Director of Planning, Economic Development and Tourism. Sharon Sabbagh, DA Ward 9 Councillor, said the DA is going back to court and will be seeking punitive cost orders against all Knysna councillors who voted for the appointments.

Sabbagh said it is concerning that the municipal manager and mayor have welcomed the four directors, [while] "more employment contracts and salary, as well the MEC concurrence process, have yet to be concluded”.

She said Tsengwa remained silent in this regard, but that she has made sure all relevant information has been sent to Bredell's office and she will be monitoring all four appointments "extremely closely".

She said that court proceedings could follow and warned that the DA would be seeking punitive cost orders against all councillors who voted in favour of the "unlawful" appointments despite her several warnings in council that the director appointments need to be withheld, at least until the judgment on Sebola's appointment [as municipal manager] has been made.

"Should the appointment be declared unlawful from the date of appointment, then the selection process is rendered unlawful too, for the MM is the chairperson of all four selection panels,” said Sabbagh.

In their own defence

Loliwe said the allegations against him are unfounded. "The MEC [Bredell] took me to the high court for two issues. The first issue was that I do not meet the minimum competency for the position.

"The court found in paragraph 121 and 122 of the judgment: 'as the MEC has failed to show that Loliwe does not meet these prescribed minimum competency requirements, it cannot be found that Loliwe's appointment contravenes section 56(1)(b) of the Systems Act'.

"The second issue is that my acting was limited to three months but went beyond, [and] the court found the third three-month acting appointment to be unlawful and set it aside. I then immediately vacated the position until I was appointed permanently by Knysna Council on 31 July 2023, and I commenced my duties on 1 September 2023."

He said the MEC is again raising the same issue of prescribed minimum competencies, but there is a judgment for it on which they never appealed. "The judgment is binding, and all must abide by it until is overturned by an appeal court, which there is currently nothing in front of the court on this issue," he said.

Petuna, for his part, said there is a perception that he was found guilty of corruption or financial misconduct, but that is not true. "Many of the articles prepared were misleading", he said.

"In 2015, Nelson Mandela Bay Municipal Council resolved to suspend and charge me on three counts of insubordination. Prior to commencement of the disciplinary hearing, the municipality approached my legal representative proposing a settlement agreement and that was agreed to. As part of the agreement, I had to resign from the municipality as of 30 November 2015.

"On my resignation, I was not found guilty of any misconduct, thus I am not found in the list of officials found guilty of misconduct as envisaged by Local Government Municipal Systems Act." He said he judgments referred happened well after his resignation in Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality and are being attended to by his legal team.

According to Petune, Knysna Municipality conducted a full screening process which included criminal checks. plus he was cleared in terms of a report produced by an independent company.

"In any case, Knysna Municipality is still following due process to ensure full compliance with the law. I cannot comment further on the process; safe to say I await its finalisation."

He expressed the wish that all concerned remain patient and allow the process to take its course. "I am a law-abiding citizen and will continue with respect for the constitution and all legislation governing local government and labour matters. People need to be factual and ensure that their views are based on facts and in line with applicable legislation. It is concerning that the state of affairs is where it is at the moment where trust has deteriorated to this level and the community is subjected to propaganda driven by various interests seeking to satisfy a certain agenda," said Petuna.

Comment was requested from the mayor, Aubrey Tsengwa, and the municipal manager, Ombali Sebola, as well as Ndlovu and Dunywa, but nothing had been received at the time of going to press. Like wise, no comment has been receive from Bredell's office.

The concerns surrounding the four appointments are:

• Olga Ndlovu – according to Sabbagh she was dismissed for misconduct relating to R134m from Bojanala Platinum District Municipality, and does not hold the requisite qualification of being an NQF8.

Olga Ndlovu

• Adv Luvuyo Loliwe – was recently the Acting Director Corporate Services but his appointment was declared unlawful by the WC High Court due to his reappointment falling outside of the allowed time frame.

Adv Luvuyo Loliwe

• Lindile Petuna – according to Sabbagh he has two judgements against him; one for R11,4m and another for R500 000, while employed at Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality.

Lindile Petuna

• Andiswa Dunywa – Sabbagh said she does not hold the requisite qualifications, "which Minister Bredell's office were still among other things verifying".

Andiswa Dunywa