Martin takes interim helm amid municipal turmoil

KNYSNA NEWS - The fate of Knysna Municipality’s senior administration hangs in the balance following the arrests of two senior municipal officials and a former councillor on Thursday, 1 October, with Dr Richard Martin, the municipality’s Director: Strategic Services and Integrated Human Settlements, temporarily appointed as acting municipal manager for 10 days.

It is further understood that Martin is expected to appoint an acting chief financial officer for the same 10-day period to ensure continuity in the municipality’s financial administration.

The temporary appointment was noted during a special council meeting on Friday, 2 October, following the arrests by members of the SAPS Political Killings Task Team (PKTT).

The two senior municipal officials and former councillor are facing corruption charges linked to an investigation into alleged kickbacks involving a municipal security-services contract and are expected to appear in the Knysna Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 5 October.

Police have alleged that a businessman who had been awarded the contract was solicited for kickbacks in exchange for its continuation, and that hundreds of thousands of rand had allegedly already been paid.

The accused remain presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

The special council meeting itself failed to progress after Speaker Mark Willemse, at the start of proceedings, apologised for the delay and the short notice of the agenda, describing the municipality as being in what he called “institutional disarray”. “Institutional disarray is an understatement, to say the least, but it does necessitate this urgent special council meeting,” Willemse said.

However, shortly after the meeting opened, Acting Mayor Morton Gericke requested a one-hour break.

Willemse expressed concern that such breaks often extended beyond the time requested, but ultimately granted a break of approximately 30 to 40 minutes. The meeting subsequently collapsed without the urgent matters being fully dealt with.

The development has added to concerns about the municipality’s ability to maintain administrative continuity and deal with matters affecting service delivery.

The latest impasse comes amid continued uncertainty within the council, where recent meetings have been disrupted by requests for caucuses and breaks, with some meetings ending without decisions being taken.

Martin is not new to the municipality and has previously served in an acting municipal management capacity.

His substantive position is Director: Strategic Services and Integrated Human Settlements. The temporary arrangement also follows a period of considerable turnover in the municipality’s senior administration, with a succession of acting municipal managers serving over recent years.

Ngubo was appointed acting municipal manager in May for an initial three-month period after serving in an acting capacity in Bitou Municipality. His subsequent extension became the subject of a legal challenge, with the Western Cape High Court ruling in September that the extension was unlawful.

The municipality has also experienced changes at senior financial-management level following the retirement of former CFO Clifford Julies in July. DA Knysna mayoral candidate Levael Davis, speaking at a media briefing on Friday, said the latest developments highlighted what he described as the consequences of prolonged governance instability.

Davis said the DA had previously called for provincial and national government intervention, arguing that a Section 139 intervention could have addressed what he described as problems relating to service delivery, appointments and municipal management.

These statements represent the DA’s political position and have not been independently established as findings of fact. The municipality’s immediate challenge is now to maintain administrative and financial continuity while the legal process involving the three arrested individuals proceeds.

The 10-day interim arrangement places Martin in the acting municipal manager role, while the appointment of an acting CFO is expected to provide continuity in the municipality’s financial administration during the interim period.

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