Knysna council prepared to fight administration bid in court

PLACING the Knysna municipality under administration is the wrong move and its council was prepared to fight the matter all the way to court, says Knysna Mayor Thando Matika.

During the inaugural episode of the municipality’s new podcast, Matika responded to the provincial government’s decision to place the municipality under administration.

Last week, Local Government MEC Anton Bredell announced the decision to dissolve the Council and appoint an administrator later this month, which would trigger fresh elections within 90 days to install new political leadership.

He cited service delivery issues including “repeated sewage spills, prolonged water shortages, and inconsistent refuse removal” necessitating the intervention. 

According to the MEC, by dissolving the council and vesting temporary authority in an “impartial administrator” it will help with the swift implementation of “recovery strategies”. 

“The Administrator can enforce essential national standards for service delivery, impose recovery plans, assume responsibility for critical obligations such as budget approval and revenue-raising measures, and prevent actions prejudicial to the Municipality’s recovery. This external oversight not only stabilises immediate operations but also lays the groundwork for long-term governance improvements, culminating in fresh elections for a new Municipal Council better positioned to sustain accountable and effective local administration,” Bredell’s spokesperson, Wouter Kriel said at the time.

However, Matika said this was the wrong move.

“For now we have written to the Minister (Co-operative Government and Traditional Affairs, Velenkosini Hlabisa) stating our case on why he should not approve the dissolvement of council. We’ve sent all the reports. The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) might visit Knysna next week to engage so they can make a final decision.”

Matika maintained that being put under administration would not be good for the town and its residents. 

“Being put under administration, section 139 means the municipality has been dissolved with no councillors across all wards for the next 90 wards. This means the whole council has to go for new elections. If you take 90 days, it means new elections will be held in December.

“For one there’s going to be instability of council. The town will have to go to elections in December, so the whole three months there is going to be a lot of political parties going around preparing for elections, nothing much can happen with an administrator for three months. There's not going be any communication, any meeting, the administrator is here to play the role of politics. 

“Then after the elections the same councillors might come back, which is a waste of money. December you start the process of getting a new council, by January new councillors need to be trained, they need to know their new rules. The community will not have any voice, they will not have any person representing them in council.”