KNYSNA NEWS - Knysna Municipality has come to the defence of its acting director of human settlements, Lindile Petuna, stating that the recent Port Elizabeth High Court judgement that he must pay R11,3m out of his pocket to reimburse the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality has no bearing on Knysna Municipality.
On 30 March, acting judge Lisa Ntsepe ordered Petuna to pay R11,3m out of his own pocket after finding that the former executive director of human settlements at Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality recommended that the council buy a piece of land for R11m more than it was worth.
The land, portion 10 of the Farm Seaview 28, Clarendon Marine, was intended for the development of low-cost housing.
Petuna recommended a payment of R14,3m while the farm was only worth R3m. Petuna also made headlines in October last year when he was ordered by the Port Elizabeth High Court to pay more than R550 000 for wrongfully advising his previous employer, Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, to rezone residential land for the development of a luxury hotel and chapel.
'No bearing'
Responding to KPH's questions about the recent court judgement, municipal spokesperson Christopher Bezuidenhoudt said the High Court judgement has no bearing on the Knysna Municipality.
"Petuna is not currently facing any disciplinary charges at the Knysna Municipality as a result of the above nor will he be placed on any type of precautionary suspension," he said.
On Wednesday last week, HeraldLive and other media outlets reported that Ntsepe of the High Court in Gqeberha ruled that Petuna was liable for the R11,3m loss, with the court finding he had also withheld critical information - that the market value of the land was R3m - when he made the recommendation to Mayor Ben Fihla and council.
Petuna stated in the report that the city would immediately be able to develop 9,6 hectares of the property with a further 17,55 hectares added in future.
This was despite a feasibility study from his own department that clearly stated only 5,08 hectares of the land was suitable for human settlement development.
Responding to HeraldLive last week, Petuna said he was not aware of the judgment. "I've only heard through the grapevine that there is such a judgment, but I have not received anything to that effect," he said.
KPH has been unable to get more recent comment from Petuna as he is on a two-week leave. His phone goes straight to voicemail and he does not respond to the messages sent to him by the paper.
Ratepayers Association
According to the Knysna Ratepayers Association (KRA), it was first alerted to the allegations against Petuna in August 2019, when DA Constituency Head Dion George alleged in a press release that Petuna had been accused of misleading or attempting to mislead the Nelson Mandela Bay council on 133 separate occasions, after which he resigned at his disciplinary hearing. George called on the Knysna Mayor and the ANC to review the appointment.
"The press release did not, however, stop the council, including the DA councillors, from unanimously appointing Petuna to the Knysna Municipal Planning Tribunal on 29 August 2019," the KRA said.
"In May 2020, Petuna was again appointed to the Tribunal with the support of the DA and ANC councillors. The KRA was extremely concerned about the allegations and after Petuna was reappointed to the Tribunal we requested information from Knysna Municipality to determine whether they were aware of the very serious allegations against Petuna when he was appointed Housing Manager in 2019, and whether the Acting Municipal Manager made enquiries of the Metro in 2020 before Petuna was reappointed to the Tribunal.
"To date, we have not yet received a satisfactory response from Knysna Municipality," said KRA. When KPH enquired from the Knysna Municipality whether the allegations against Petuna were considered during his appointment, Bezuidenhoudt said Petuna did disclose the charges against him in his employment application form.
KRA said they were shocked that Knysna Municipality apparently has no interest whatsoever in the two High Court judgments.
"This does not bode well for those of us who expect our municipality to act with due diligence when appointing officials and may also lead to an erosion of confidence in the Planning Tribunal. They should be held accountable for their misdeeds. Knysna Municipality should wake up and follow the example of the Nelson Mandela Metro," the association said.
KRA intends to take further steps to obtain a response to their questions relating to Petuna and, in light of the new judgment, "we shall be submitting further requests to the municipality, including questions relating to the purchase of land during Petuna's tenure".
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