ActionSA welcomes 7-day deadline to sack unlawful political appointees
14 October 2022
ActionSA welcomes the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) announcement made that it would approach the courts for immediate relief in relation to the unlawful political appointments made by the ANC-led government in Knysna.
We are pleased that ActionSA’s letter to Western Cape MEC Anton Bredell released earlier the same day requesting an urgent investigation into this “jobs for pals” scheme, encouraged the DA to take this decision to go to court. Knysna wins when like-minded political parties stand together to hold the ANC-led government to account.
We note that the DA waited until 11 October 2022 to direct a letter to the Knysna Acting Municipal Manager requesting that he cease any steps in the appointments to the posts or takes steps to reverse the unlawful appointments. The DA has given the Acting Municipal Manager a full week to respond to this request.
On 31 August 2022 a coalition of the ANC, EFF, PA and PBI took over the Knysna Municipal Council through motions of no confidence which removed the previous DA-KIM leadership. It took the new ANC-led government no time at all to implement their cadre deployment plans in Knysna, and on 16 September 2022 they unlawfully created 6 new positions in an “Office of the Political Office Bearers”. These positions will together cost the Knysna ratepayers between R2,408,784 and R3,126,336 per year.
Following public outcry over these clearly politically motivated new positions, ANC Executive Mayor, Cllr Aubrey Tsengwa, gave a public undertaking that the necessary recruitment and selection processes would be followed to fill the posts. Not surprisingly, however, no recruitment and selection processes were followed, and the new appointees arrived for work on 3 October 2022.
The appointees include Michele Botha who was the Mayoral candidate for the PA in Bitou; Elrick van Aswegen, the former COPE Executive Mayor and second on the ANC’s PR list for the 2021 election; Morton Gericke who is the brother of PBI leader Virgil Gericke; and ANC Sub-Regional Secretary, Moyisi Magalela.
ActionSA wrote to MEC Bredell requesting an urgent investigation into these appointments, as well as three other instances of irregular appointments and payments, including a R90,000.00 payment for accommodation for an Acting CFO who will only be with the municipality for a three-month period. South Africa is being held back by this kind of unethical leadership which employs unqualified public servants in “jobs for pals” schemes.
We hope that the DA’s failure to act immediately as promised will not jeopardise the outcome of an urgent court application.
Issued by Michelle Wasserman, Western Cape PEC Member, ActionSA, 14 October 2022
