Knysna Mayor's turnaround plan after NCOP vote of confidence

Interventions at Knysna municipality include establishing a service delivery “war room” chaired by mayor Thando Matika, activating a 24/7 hotline and WhatsApp reporting tool and deploying emergency repairs task teams.

Matika has proposed a 14-day turnaround strategy, a 30-day visible action plan and a 3-month intervention program for the municipality to address issues including service delivery.

This comes after the DA-led provincial government’s plan to dissolve the municipality and place it under administration was dealt a blow when MPs serving on the Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Public Administration found there were no exceptional circumstances warranting such an intervention. 

“Following the committee’s visit to Knysna and its interaction with internal and external stakeholders, most of its members were of the view that there is strong stability at both administrative and governance levels of the Municipality,” the committee said in a brief statement.

Matika this week said strong representations were made to the NCOP Select Committee during their visit to Knysna and he was grateful to the Chief Whips of nearly all political parties, as well as civil society organisations, who opposed the administration move. 

“As a disciplined and inclusive leader, I serve all the people of our beautiful Greater Knysna. I trust (Local Government) MEC (Anton) Bredell will not see this as a loss, but as an opportunity to consider alternative support. I will invite him to meet with me and my team to explore these measures.”

Matika proposed a turnaround strategy to stabilise urgent service delivery challenges within 14 days, demonstrate visible improvements in 30 days, implement sustainable interventions within 3 months, and strengthen innovation, accountability and public participation.

Important interventions will include establishing a service delivery “war room”, initiating a stakeholder partnership forum and emergency repairs budget reallocation from the Operation Expenditure Budget. 

Matika acknowledged serious service delivery challenges in water, wastewater and refuse management. He said that since he took office in February, progress is already underway. Council has adopted a funded budget supported by Treasury; the Consolidated Executive Obligations Monitoring and Enforcement Framework (CEOMEF) was adopted to strengthen compliance and delivery; a Water Services Development Plan has been approved to address urgent infrastructure needs, and funding provision has been made to expand the waste management fleet.

“Many of our problems stem from old and crumbling infrastructure that will cost millions to replace. We are engaging National Treasury mechanisms such as the Budget Facility for Infrastructure (BFI) to secure funding for large-scale projects,” Matika said.

Matika added that officials must also acknowledge their responsibilities, as they are a key pillar in the local government structure. 

“A customer-centred approach must form the foundation of our collective response to these challenges. The focus should shift from obstacles; we must be able to see beyond them and be innovative in our thinking,” he said. “Consequence management will be enforced and staff will be held accountable.”

Cape Times