Troubled Knysna council's woes continue as coalition struggles and legal challenge threaten local governance

22 Nov 2024

Knsyna’s council chaos came under fire again in the Western Cape legislature — not only for its ongoing issues around service delivery, but now there’s a court application to dissolve the 21-seat ANC-led council.

Knysna, dubbed “The Jewel of the Garden Route”, is making headlines again — from an alleged death threat to a court application that could see the council dissolved. But not everyone is in support of the court application.

Knysna’s issues played out in the Western Cape legislature this week following a question about a recent court application to dissolve the 21-seat council. Earlier in November, the Plett-Herald reported on a court application by a group called The Accountability Group who want the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs to dissolve the council.

Among issues outlined for the dissolving of the council include well-aired issues around service delivery and the political situation in the hung council.

As Daily Maverick reported previously, Knysna is a hung 21-seat council with no clear majority party.

It is currently led by a coalition consisting of the ANC, Patriotic Alliance (PA) and a local party, the Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners (PBI).

Since 2021, the council has been rocked by at least four different motions of no confidence, with one has been successful, resulting in the current ANC/PBI/PA coalition. Before that, Knysna was governed by a DA-led coalition with the Knysna Independent Movement.

In the council, the EFF has been a swing vote, often casting a deciding vote in who runs the council — and has voted for both the ANC-led and DA-led councils.

Death threats

In October, news reports emerged of an alleged death threat issued by mayor Aubrey Tsengwa against acting municipal manager Setloane Malepeng, which has been denied. The ANC — of which Tswenga is a member — has since called him in for a meeting. The police confirmed to the Knsyna-Plett Herald they were investigating the allegation.

While Daily Maverick has been informed the alleged death threat is being dealt with in council, Speaker Mncedisi Skosana said this week he was unable to comment on specifics around the allegation.

“At this time, my focus remains on fostering unity and maintaining the council’s commitment to serving the community of Knysna… While allegations of this nature are concerning, they will be managed in accordance with the law and the principles of good governance,” said Skosana in response to questions posed by Daily Maverick.

Western Cape opposing court application

In the sitting on Thursday, Bredell was asked about this court case by a member of the legislature, Brett Herron (GOOD party).

Bredell said in response that the province would oppose an application to dissolve the troubled Knysna council because they described it as using the wrong legislation.

Bredell added that his department opposed the application and took it to the provincial government, and state law advisors “within the department of the premier have agreed with the department’s recommendation that the application be opposed”.

He then said any recommendation to intervene in another sphere of government — in this case a local government — “will only be made if the relevant threshold of an intervention has been met”.

The province has already provided and had the municipality implement a Section 154 implementation plan, related to the provision of services within the municipality.

Read more: Five key takeaways from the Knysna service delivery diagnostic report

“The political and administrative instability appeared to be the main causes behind the issues being experienced,” said Bredell during the sitting.

In addition, Bredell said that if the case proceeded, one of the first things the courts would ask is what interventions the provincial government had done in Knysna — which include solving a refuse crisis, and helping to fix and replace pumps in the municipality.

“So the pressure is on, but where we currently stand, we think that The Accountability Group’s application doesn’t have grounds to go through the legal process,” he said.

When the leader of the official opposition, Khalid Sayed (ANC), questioned if Bredell would also intervene in the same way he did in Knysna in the Matzikama Municipality — a DA-led municipality that made headlines over a series of blunders — loud comments were heard from the DA caucus.

Read more: Water woes, questions over governance loom before Matzikama Municipality by-election

Bredell responded with: “The short answer is yes… we don’t distinguish who’s in control of the council, our main purpose is to manage the legal framework within which and to support our municipalities.”

Bredell said he understood what both members of the legislature wanted and what the public wanted, and got upset about the slow pace of change and legal processes within municipalities.

“But the legal system is a slow system because you need to listen to the other side; the municipality’s got the right to reply and then we need to deal with those kinds of things,” he said.

On Friday morning, the DA’s constituency head, Ryan Smith, said the party was in support of the court application to dissolve the council. He said in a statement: “This approach is in line with the DA’s political strategy to address the fragmented council which has ushered in the ANC/EFF/PA/PBI coalition of corruption, and is in the best interests of Knysna’s residents. The DA recently voted in support of this application when brought to council.”

Read more: ‘When two elephants fight, it’s the grass that suffers — and Knysna is the grass’

He went further: “We will, however, be submitting a list of corrections to the Speaker regarding the actions of the Western Cape government undertaken to place the Knysna Municipality under administration thus far. This is because The Accountability Group’s papers, while aligned with the DA in their intent, have not accurately reflected the interventions taken by the Western Cape government as the executive authority to this point, which may impact on the judgment sought.”

But as Daily Maverick reported during the road to 2024 elections, residents feel the brunt when the municipality’s political fights — they are in the grass when the elephants fight. DM

Categories:

Tags:

DM is much better if you are signed in...

South Africa

Death threats

Western Cape opposing court application