PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - The Plett Ratepayers Association has warned that it will resort to legal action, if all other means fail, to ensure "accountability and good governance" by the Bitou Municipality.

At its AGM held on Wednesday 29 March, Steve Pattinson, the new chairman of the association, criticised the level of transparency and responsiveness from the council and said that the financials of the municipality have become progressively worse in the past year.

In his chairman's report, delivered on behalf of outgoing chairman Peter Gaylard, Pattinson explained the reasons for the association's stand against the R35m loan the municipality intends taking out to address its dire financial situation.

He said the association has proposed the introduction of an ombudsman who will assist with resolving the town's service delivery problems, such as billing errors on municipal accounts, township housing grievances and town planning issues.

At the Ratepayers AGM, Pattinson said that while they make every effort to keep an open dialogue with the municipality and believe that transparent two-way communication is the better way to address oversight tensions, they will escalate to provincial government and even the Auditor General if they do not receive complete information. 

"Most critical is that we build up again the necessary reserves for infrastructure investment, but this must come from fiscal disciplines and better management, not further loans and rates and tariff increases," he said.

Short-term mitigation plan

He credited the acting CFO, Felix Lötter, for putting together a comprehensive and promising Voluntary Financial Recovery Plan for the long term, but said it did not include tangible measures needed to address the magnitude of the financial situation in real time.

"We requested they urgently consider a short-term plan to focus on revenue enhancement and cost reduction initiatives to mitigate the seriousness of our financial situation," Pattinson added.

"It was not that we disagree with the need to invest money into critical infrastructure projects necessary for service delivery, but we are of the belief that with financial disciplines in place, closer scrutiny on tender awards, cost reductions acted upon, fraudulent money recovered, then this loan would have been substantially less or not required at all," he said. 

"In addition, we face the prospect of higher rates and tariffs being passed onto us all, based on an inefficient cost base."

Pattinson pointed out that an ombudsman will provide a ready dispute resolution service that Bitou residents could use without charge. Whereas the councillors appear reluctant to act against under-performing officials, an ombudsman would relieve them of that burden.

He said the service would require a by-law and public participation and the association, with a wealth of legal expertise from legal minds who have retired to Plett, could assist with the process of implementation.

Plettenberg Bay's ratepayers have called for an ombudsman to oversee Bitou Municipality's financial matters. Photo: Carlo Coetzee

Mayor comments

Bitou Mayor Dave Swart countered in comments made at a council meeting on 30 March that it was concerning that some of the discussions in council were misrepresented to the public by some organisations. 

Swart in particular raised the claim by the association that a recent R35m loan had been approved by the 'DA-led coalition'. "The current governing council are a coalition of three parties and are in no way DA-led, as the Ratepayers Association has put it," he said.

Swart also mentioned that the Ratepayers listed six councillors who had voted against the loan (ANC, PA and IPM). "This is not true. The loan was opposed only by the four ANC councillors," he said.

"Another concerning trend by the RPA that has now occurred for the third time in recent months is to sensasionalise items that have been advertised for public participation and to encourage their members to flood the mailboxes of the municipal manager and mayor with concerns, instead of following normal processes that are advised."

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