Why I fled Makhanda — fired Cogta’s Mr Fixit says his life was threatened

8 Jun 2025

As parts of Makhanda faced another week of severe water outages, the Eastern Cape Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs has terminated the employment of Reynhardt Brittnell, an engineer brought in to help fix the town’s broken water system. Brittnell says his life was threatened and his reputation destroyed.

The Eastern Cape Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs has ended the employment of Reynhardt Brittnell, the experienced troubleshooting engineer who was brought in to address the persistent water challenges in Makhanda.

The letter comes as the western suburbs of Makhanda are, once again, in the throes of extended water outages.

Brittnell was appointed to lead a water supply turnaround strategy at the Makana Municipality in Makhanda.

Read more: R400m later, Makhanda is still facing a catastrophic water crisis

In May, the Makana Municipality was singled out by the Auditor-General as among the local governments in South Africa “actively harming” their residents. Service delivery in the town had deteriorated so badly that in 2020, the high court ordered the dissolution of the municipal council, but this was overturned after an appeal by the provincial government.

Read more: ‘They should hang their heads in shame’: Court affirms that Makana Municipality must be dissolved

Citizens have been protesting against the collapse of service delivery in the municipality and have called for the removal of Mayor Yandiswa Vara.

Read more: Makana Municipality oversight visit — another slap on the wrist or will the dysfunction finally be addressed?

Brittnell confirmed that he had left Makhanda when his life was threatened, as he was about to present a report detailing the reasons for the collapse of the infrastructure and engineering department.

Termination letter

But now, in a letter signed by the head of the Eastern Cape Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Vuyo Mhlokoti, his services have been terminated.

“The department has been made to believe that you have not been reporting for work, and with no reasons provided for not reporting. The report also cites the frustrations experienced by both the Municipal Manager, Mr Kate and the Chief Financial Officer, Ms Ntsangani in expected execution of your duties during your secondment.

“Another instance took place when in a meeting arranged by Cogta that I chaired in my capacity as the Acting Head of Department, for the Department to receive progress reports from the seconded professional engineers, you never attended the meeting saying that you will attend a meeting in Bhisho with the MEC, and from that day you never reported for work again.”

Mhloti also indicated that the department would seek to “recoup” Brittnell’s salary for the period that he allegedly did not work.

Brittnell has now indicated that he will take legal action against the department based on what he believes are defamatory statements in Mhlokothi’s letter.

“I have never been so humiliated in my entire life after I read your letter,” Brittnell wrote in his reply to Mhlokoti.

“I am shocked by, among others, the false accusation of absconding against me, your subsequent cancellation of our contract/my employment and the subsequent reputational damage.

“It is a mystery to me why you did not verify the facts with me before you wrote and distributed the letter, seeing that you have all my contact details.

“My legal team has been instructed to quantify the reputational damage caused and future reputational damage by your letter, and to proceed to institute legal proceedings against you for the quantified amount owed to me, as well as to seek a punitive cost order.”

Brittnell continued: “Never in my professional career has a person’s faith in me meant so much as my appointment by the Eastern Cape Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs [MEC] Zolile Williams.

‘Dire’ working conditions

Brittnell described the working conditions he encountered in Makhanda as dire.

“I noticed from the onset that the Directorate: Engineering and Infrastructural Services of the municipality was in dire straits. In fact, it collapsed a long time ago, with regular media publicity echoing the situation.

“It was clear to me that the department never used its opportunities, interventions or assistance to its advantage to get its house in order and to take ownership, accept responsibility, practice professionalism and ultimately serve the Makana Local Municipal Council and the residents of the Makana local municipal area of jurisdiction with pride.

“I was shocked when I entered the department’s office for the first time, where all the managers and the call centre are seated, and which is regularly visited by the public, to find, among others, a strong smell of urine and foul odours.

“No wonder the Department of Labour issued a notice to vacate the said building with immediate effect.”

He said addressing those issues had been high on his priority list.

Municipal manager, local council ‘marginalised’

“I also noticed from the onset that the department was directly responsible for the marginalisation of the Municipal Manager and the Makana Local Municipal Council.

“This was due to the department’s failure to communicate with the Municipal Manager and the Council on a regular basis, keeping them informed about the true state of affairs. As a result, the Municipal Manager and the Council were unable to report with confidence, as they were either uninformed and/or misinformed.

“I believe in an open-door policy, total transparency and participatory governance. Therefore, from my first day in office, I regularly kept, among others, the Mayoral Committee members, Municipal Manager and other colleagues, via WhatsApp, informed about the state of affairs.

“This was necessary, as the lack of operational actions, among others, is responsible for the poor service delivery in the municipal area of jurisdiction.

“The Mayoral Committee members appreciated the said WhatsApps, as this was the first time, according to them, that they were informed of the true state of affairs and subsequently, in turn, communicated regularly with me via WhatsApp.

“Anele Mekula, Communications Manager of the municipality, and I also communicated regularly with the subsequent placement of information and photographs on, among others, the municipal Facebook page. Therefore, management was always fully aware of my actions and progress.

Service delivery — '0% improvement'

“The chairperson of the Makana Local Municipality lekgotla held on 30 May 2024 made the following opening remarks: ‘The past year has seen 0% improvement in service delivery, while being a ‘lawlessness institution’ where no performance consequence management is taking place”. These remarks echo my sentiment.

“It was my responsibility to turn the department around and prove the contrary. It can be done and that is why I have accepted the offer to be deployed at the Makana Local Municipality.

Brittnell said he was scheduled to present a report on the state of affairs at the municipality on 25 November 2024.

Also read: Makana on its knees as water and sewage services all but collapse amid broken equipment crisis

“On Friday afternoon, 22 November 2024, I was informed by an unknown person who wishes to remain anonymous that I should not table/present the report and to withdraw from the event. The only explanation that comes to mind is because of the contents of the status quo report.

“I have only received goodwill and cooperation from Council, colleagues and the public. I must mention that only three officials have gone out of their way to prevent me from succeeding, and I believe that these three officials are largely responsible for the failures in the municipality.

‘Threat to safety’

“I was committed to making my appointment a success, but I was not prepared to compromise my safety. I do not entertain rumours or conspiracy theories, but I do take the said intimidation seriously.

“Mr Jeff Budaza, a Parks and Recreation Manager of the Makana Local Municipality, was murdered in Makhanda on 25 May 2022. The targeting of officials in South Africa, particularly during national and provincial interventions, is a well-known fact.

Brittnell said he informed the MEC via WhatsApp and email about the situation, and also wrote to his line manager and others.

“I informed the Honourable MEC Williams accordingly in a letter dated 24 November 2024, attached as Annexure 21 via WhatsApp on 24 November 2024, requested the postponement of the scheduled meeting and requested an opportunity to meet him.

“The said letter was also sent to my line manager, Ms Charity Sihunu via email and WhatsApp, to Mr Scelo Duma via email, to the Mayoral Committee members and the Municipal Manager via WhatsApp.”

Brittnell said he received messages of support after it became known that he had been threatened.

He said he was told by those he had to report to that he should not be stressed about not attending the meeting and that he should meet Williams instead to discuss the threats.

He then left Makhanda and worked from Port Alfred until the police could complete a safety assessment for him.

Despite several attempts by Brittnell to have a risk assessment completed, nothing was done, he says.

“Cogta, my employer, did nothing to initiate the risk assessment to ensure my safe return or that I could continue with my assignment in a safe environment.

“I had exhausted all avenues and had no choice but to look after my own safety and had to remove myself from the Makana Local Municipality. I only found out late September 2024 that the Makana Local Municipality was a high-risk local authority to work for and was not prepared to be killed like [Budaza], he said.

Around the time of Brittnell’s appointment, the Special Investigating Unit, assisted by the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation (the Hawks), began their investigation into the municipality and gathered evidence at the municipal offices. Mamnkeli Ngam from the Eastern Cape Cogta said the department was considering its response.

Daily Maverick sought comment from the Makana Local Municipality but was yet to receive a response. DM

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Termination letter

‘Dire’ working conditions

Municipal manager, local council ‘marginalised’

Service delivery — '0% improvement'

‘Threat to safety’