KNYSNA NEWS - "New council, same unnecessary spending," expressed a concerned Knysna resident after hearing that the newly elected DA council had spent approximately R70 000 refurbishing council offices in the municipal building.

Prior to the recent municipal elections, the Knysna DA had compiled and advertised a list of its top 18 priorities should they be elected. One of these listed priorities was, "stamp[ing] out excessive municipal spending and waste," followed directly by, "implement[ing] sound, economic financial management and good house-keeping".

Not only had the council spent money refurbishing offices, but it was noted that a position for an assistant to the deputy mayor and speaker had been advertised, offering a salary of R180 000 per annum.

"It may seem that the DA councilors are not sticking to what they had promised, by spending these amounts on refurbishing offices," exclaimed a resident.

The Knysna DA spokesperson, Jayne Boccaleone, was asked to respond on June 22, and reminded a day before going to print. However, the DA had offered no explanation or comment at time of going to press.

Knysna Municipal Manager Johnny Douglas explained that the executive councilors of the previous council did not have an office in the municipal building, "they only had offices in the wards in which they had been elected as ward councilors".
He further explained that the current council has decided that all the executive councilors must have offices in the main municipal building, as well as in their respective wards.

"In order to address this situation, it has become necessary to equip the offices which they are occupying in the main building," he said.

The new Knysna speaker and Ward 10 councilor, Richard Dawson, however said that he, unlike the other councilors, had purchased his own chair, two visitor’s chairs and laptop and paid for the dry-cleaning of his office curtains.

Douglas further explained that the post for an assistant was not a new post. "The office of the executive deputy mayor and executive councilors and the speaker are being occupied on a full-time basis. The past government also had an admin assistant who assisted them in the day-to-day running and logistics of their respective offices. The post that we have therefore advertised is not a new post."

Douglas is of the opinion that the approximate R70 000 spent on the refurbishing was necessary, saying: "With regard to the cost attached to the staffing and furnishing of the offices of the executive councilors, we need to point out that these expenditures were necessary and did not amount to engaging in wasteful and fruitless expenditure."

Residents further queried why the new DA Council had not looked at restructuring the municipal employees to possibly avert the employment of extra staff, to which Douglas replied: "We need to point out that you cannot move staff without considering their conditions of service and the post in which they have been employed. The situation is being dealt with in terms of the Bargaining Council Agreement to which this municipality is a party to. With regard to the salary structure we need to point out that this is also being done in terms of the Bargaining Council Agreement."

Douglas was asked to comment on yet another post being advertised, the position for a senior clerk in the IDP (Inegrated Development Planning) offices. He said, "The IDP department is currently being run by the manager: IDP and an intern. An intern is a person who we ‘employ’ with the objective of training the person for 18 months in order to make up the practical hours for a diploma. We have evaluated the office and is of the opinion, based on the importance of our planning processes, that we cannot continue on this basis. We therefore decided to pitch the admin support post on a senior level because we want a well-equipped person to fill this position."

ARTICLE: FRAN KIRSTEN, KNYSNA-PLETT HERALD JOURNALIST