Null and void: Court nixes Truman Prince’s appointment as acting municipal manager in Karoo council

3 Apr 2023

Former Beaufort West mayor Truman Prince’s appointment as a top official in a Karoo municipality was overturned because he did not have the required experience working under a municipal manager.

The Western Cape Division of the High Court has declared the appointment of Truman Prince as acting municipal manager of Central Karoo District Municipality null and void. Prince said he believed the court “made a mistake” and confirmed that he would be appealing the decision.

The judgment was released on Monday, 3 April.

Prince, a former mayor of the Beaufort West municipality, was appointed acting municipal manager of the Central Karoo District Municipality. This was subsequently taken on review by Anton Bredell, Western Cape MEC for Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning.

Beaufort West, a local municipality in the Karoo, is part of Central Karoo District Municipality, along with the municipalities of Prince Albert and Laingsburg.

Prince and the post

Prince was appointed following a Central Karoo District Municipality council meeting. At a council sitting, acting municipal manager Goodwill Nyathi’s resignation letter was tabled and accepted. The council then resolved to appoint an acting municipal manager while a recruitment process was underway to find a permanent replacement.

The court ruling stated that after two names were put forward, Prince received the majority support from the council. Due to the “urgency of the matter”, Prince assumed the position with immediate effect.

The court ruling said an email from Central Karoo District Municipality mayor Gayton McKenzie was sent to Anton Bredell informing him of Nyathi’s resignation and the council’s intention for Prince to fill the vacancy – one day before this happened in council on Wednesday, 1 February.

Bredell responded to the email within two days, with a request to see all the candidates’ CVs – including that of Prince. These were furnished on Monday, 6 February.

A week later, Bredell’s office sent queries to Central Karoo District Municipality regarding the status of the position in the municipality previously occupied by Prince – the post of Senior Manager: Community Services. The municipality replied that Prince had not occupied such a post.

On Friday, 17 February, the MEC wrote to mayor McKenzie to inform him that in his (Bredell’s) view, Prince did not meet the criteria for appointment as acting municipal manager, as “he did not have the requisite five years’ experience in a position reporting to the municipal manager”.

Bredell told McKenzie that he held the view that Prince’s appointment was unlawful and called on the municipality to terminate Prince’s appointment.

One week later, on 24 February, McKenzie wrote to Bredell informing him that he disagreed with the MEC’s position. He asked for seven working days to clarify Prince’s previous work experience and committed to getting back to Bredell. The court said “he never reverted”.

This led to Bredell issuing papers on 14 March that gave notice of an urgent application that was due to be heard on 22 March. Parties were expected to file answering papers by 17 March.

When the matter came before the court, no opposing papers had been filed and the municipality and Prince agreed to a postponement of the matter until 29 March. On 24 March, Prince submitted an answering affidavit.

In his ruling, Judge Patrick Gamble said that Prince’s academic qualifications – a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Public Administration – were not in dispute. These allowed him to be qualified for the post. However, it was his experience at a senior administration level that was in dispute.

According to the ruling, a municipal manager or acting municipal manager must have academic qualifications of a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration/Political Sciences/Social Sciences/Law; or equivalent. When it came to experience, there needed to be five years of relevant experience at a senior management level and “have proven successful institutional transformation within the public or private sector”.

Previously, Prince served as municipal manager at Central Karoo District Municipality between December 2004 and August 2007.

“But that period is not enough to permit Prince to be considered now for the position of acting municipal manager: he needs another two years and four months’ experience at the level of senior management, i.e. reporting to a person at senior management level,” read the court ruling.

While Prince had an aggregate of three years and three months of relevant experience, he fell short of the required five years.

Judge Gamble said: “It is common cause that Prince does not have the requisite experience. If the de facto period is excluded, it follows that his appointment on 2 February 2023 as acting municipal manager of the Municipality is null and void.”

The court ruled that the municipality, council speaker and Prince had to pay the costs of the application. Prince’s liability for costs would be in his personal capacity.

Prince said he intended to appeal the judgment.

“Even if I have to sell my house, I will go to court,” said Prince. He also said he wants to debate Bredell on issues of local government.

At the municipality, Prince worked under the mayorship of Gayton McKenzie, who is also president of the political party to which he belongs. McKenzie leads the Patriotic Alliance, while Prince is the chairperson of the regional executive committee in the Central Karoo region.

Meanwhile, the SA Communist Party in the region told Daily Maverick that “Gayton McKenzie tricked Truman Prince … he was fully aware that the MEC will not give concurrence to the appointment and Prince took the offer for an appointment, knowing that it would be difficult to obtain concurrence”.

The SACP said this once again confirmed their position that the PA and Gayton McKenzie were not in the Central Karoo with the aim of advancing the interests of the citizens. The party has been a vocal critic of McKenzie and the PA in the area.

Attempts to reach McKenzie for comment on Monday were unsuccessful.

Bredell’s office told Daily Maverick the MEC was pleased with the judgment as “it confirms our interpretation of the legislation that governs municipal appointments”. DM

Additional reporting by Vincent Cruywagen.

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