The EDGE Community Newspaper

1 day ago

Wishing ALL Mums a great, gorgeous day!

#happymothersday2021

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The EDGE Community Newspaper

2 days ago

Now also affecting Sedgefield and surrounds.

www.facebook.com/684455324912876/posts/5791826717509019/POWER OUTAGE UPDATE
Saturday 8 May, 11h07

Wilderness, Wilderness Heights, Touwsranten, Hoekwil, Kleinkrantz all affected by Eskom Power Transformer that is off at Wilderness substation. These areas will regretably remain off until ESKOM can re-energise.

Issued George Mun ... See MoreSee Less

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The EDGE Community Newspaper

3 days ago

CADRE DEPLOYMENT IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

COPE, KUC AND ACDP ENABLE THE ANC’S UNLAWFUL APPOINTMENT

In our experience, Knysna municipal directors have always been appointed in Council meetings that are open to the public.

There is a local practice that personal information relating to the applicants is occasionally relegated to “Green Pages”, an agenda and a meeting that are closed to the public. This practice is questionable, however, as the public has a right to information about applicants for a director’s position. Any candidate who applies for an important position with a public entity should have nothing to hide, and potential applicants who have skeletons in their closet are always free not to apply.

On the29th of April 2021, at the same time that ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa was eating humble pie before the Zondo Commission about his party’s cadre deployment and how it had enabled state capture, the appointment of Knysna municipality’s Director of Community Services was made behind closed doors.

Had the DA not issued a press release about the sneaky and patently unlawful appointment of Dr. Sandile Ngquele as Director of Community Services, we, the long-suffering public, would have been none the wiser.

Whereas the public has been deprived of access to the report that served before Council, KRA has been able to satisfy itself from press releases by both the DA and the ANC, that the appointment was patently unlawful.

This is not about political squabbling— the plain facts set forth in the DA’s press release have not been rebutted. The LinkedIn account of Dr. Ngquele, and the ANC’s press release, leave us convinced that the appointee should not even have been shortlisted, never mind appointed, for he failed to comply with the municipality’s advertised requirements for the post.

It is trite law that an organ of state is bound by its advertised requirements for a post, and may not shortlist or hire a person who does not qualify.

The advertisement for the Director’s post required seven years’ relevant experience at senior and middle management level, of which two should be at senior management level.

The term “senior management” specifically applies to a section 56 manager. Section 56 managers are appointed by Council, and are also referred to as directors.

It is common cause that Dr. Ngquele has never been appointed as a director or section 56 manager. Accordingly, he should not have been shortlisted, let alone appointed, for he fails to satisfy the municipality’s advertised requirements— finish en klaar.

Eyebrows were also raised when the ANC and their enablers voted to appoint the Bitou Director of Community Services, Mr. TM Sompani, to the selection panel. Mr. Sompani was formerly Director of Community Services in Knysna, but was dismissed for misconduct involving dishonesty in about 2007, in the good old days, when Mr. Dave Daniels was our Municipal Manager and there was still good governance and accountability in Knysna. We braced ourselves for a bad outcome, and it seems our fears have been confirmed by events.

We have requested reasons for this dubious appointment from the municipality and will decide whether to take that decision on review to the high court once we have received that information.

A decision to go to court will not be taken lightly, but recent history has taught us what to expect from cadre deployment. Our town cannot afford this. We deserve better.

We hope it will not be necessary to go to court, and that the Knysna Council will rescind or take its own decision on review.

If we are left with no option but to approach the court to set aside this decision, we shall be asking for personal cost orders against each councillor who voted for this unlawful appointment, as well as each and every councillor who enabled the decision by abstaining. ... See MoreSee Less

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