KNYSNA NEWS - The leadership of the Hornlee United Movement and Knysna mayor Mark Willemse were requested to appear before the SA Human Rights Commission in Cape Town on 30 April.

 According to a statement issued by the movement on 1 May, the request followed in the wake of numerous attempts to get the mayor and appropriate councillors to meet with them in Knysna, "but they were always busy and showed little regard for the pressing issues of the Hornlee community".

The statement said Hornlee United reported the municipality to the Human Rights Commission for its decision to install prepaid water meters in Hornlee and for not giving Hornlee residents RDP homes regardless of the fact that they have been on the waiting list for 20 years. The movement alleges that residents from the northern areas receive preferential treatment over them in terms of RDP houses.

Hornlee excluded from plans
Another issue the movement tabled before the commission relates to land they claim was taken from their ancestors by the apartheid government and which is now being allocated to other communities at the exclusion of the Hornlee community. "We have also asked the Human Rights Commission to lay charges at the Public Protector and MEC against councillors Elrick van Aswegen and Donovan Pofadder for interference with the administration and for misleading and coercing the community to take prepaid water meters. All their stories of writing off debt of poor people and 'swopping it' for a prepaid water meter is illegal and part of what will be investigated."

Upon arrival at the commission they said they were surprised to learn that neither the mayor nor any of the councillors attended and that instead the CFO Mbulelo Memani and the Technical Services director Phumla Makoma had attended, "in spite of the Human Rights Commission specifically summoning the mayor to appear before them".

Request for public hearing
''Hornlee United has asked them to come to Knysna to meet with the community and to have the hearing of the mayor and councillors done in public, in Knysna so that the whole community can attend,'' they said.

In a statement, the municipality responded as follows to the movement's allegations and complaints: "With regards to the Hornlee United complaint about the mayor and municipal manager (MM) not appearing before the commission, the correspondence from the Human Rights Commission addressed to the mayor and MM came to the attention of the municipality on Monday morning 29 April. The mayor and MM had previous commitments and did not want to inconvenience the commission, thus sent two senior officials who are responsible for the water management devices and can respond to the questions."

Willemse told Knysna-Plett Herald on Friday 3 May that they were not given decent response time, that he and the MM had prior engagements and that, to ensure continuity, the municipality had to send their senior officials. He added, "The matter is still under investigation (by the commission) and there's no determination as yet."

'Meters for consumers' own good'
In response to the allegations that the installation of the water meters infringes the Greater Knysna residents' human rights, the municipality responded: "The prepaid meters allow residents to manage their consumption better and avoid nasty billing surprises. Water is a basic human right, consequently in Knysna indigent consumers receive 6 kilolitres free water per month. We can assure our residents that they will definitely not lose their free monthly allocation."

The allegation by Hornlee United that prepaid water meters were installed in ''only nonwhite areas" is factually incorrect, the municipality said, adding that the first device was installed on Thesen Island on Friday 26 April. "Thus far the project has had positive reviews in other areas, to date 1 543 water meter devices have been installed. The municipality is also developing an information pamphlet which will answer all the residents' frequently asked questions." Additionally the municipality stated that Hornlee United have previously complained about high water services debt and that, in this regard, it would be setting aside R24-million to write off debt on water services charges.

Knysna mayor Mark Willemse.

Hornlee United leadership Neil Louw, Alan Kock and Barend Fredericks minutes before their meeting with the South African Human Rights Commission in Cape Town. Photos: Supplied

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