We are not running a spaza shop here! There was no doubting Makana Mayor Zamuxolo Peter's mood last week as he announced the axing of Municipal Manager Ntombi Baart and warned remaining Council officials they would be expected to take up the slack.
We are not running a spaza shop here! There was no doubting Makana Mayor Zamuxolo Peter's mood last week as he announced the axing of Municipal Manager Ntombi Baart and warned remaining Council officials they would be expected to take up the slack.
But the Democratic Alliance has expressed alarm over Baart's cautionary suspension. The move, announced on Grocott’s Online last Friday, came as no surprise to residents, as Council had recently warned of possible disciplinary action.
But the local DA questioned the procedure leading to Baart’s suspension which it said was first proposed during an Integrated Development Planning, IDP, debate “without warning, almost as a motion of exigency”.
Makana Executive Mayor, Zamuxolo Peter said in a press conference on Friday that Council decided on 3 April to initiate a procedure which could lead to disciplinary action against Baart. She was given seven days to respond to allegations and explain why she shouldn’t be suspended.
When Baart replied, on 13 April, Council adjudged her response unsatisfactory or – in the words of the mayor – not of a responsible person in a position of authority and of an accounting officer”.
During Friday's media briefing, Peter said the allegations were related to Baart's annual report and the way she conducts herself in council meetings, but did not elaborate. After reading his prepared statement, the mayor said he would take questions on the procedure, but would not discuss the sub-judice hearing.
Asked how long the process would take, Peter said, “It would be suicidal to say this is going to take three months” -because of the complicated legal process involved. Peter said the Council would use Smith Tabata attorneys to formulate possible charges against the municipal manager and had set a target of seven days to ascertain whether there was any merit in doing so.
If the group working with the attorneys decides to proceed against Baart, it must report to council within 30 days. Peter also announced on Friday that Mandisi Planga, Makana's director of community and social services, would be the acting municipal manager.
Phakama Booi, now acting director of community and social services, would stand in for Planga. But Peter warned that municipal officials must work hard. We don't want an official who will take advantage of that municipal manager is not here.
"We are not running a spaza shop here… we get paid for our work and must make sure the council programmes continues," Peter said at a Council meeting earlier on Friday. "We must prioritise the programmes we get paid for."
With Thabiso Klaas also currently out of office, Etienne Mager is acting director of corporate services. Asked about the unresolved position regarding the chief financial officer, Peter said this matter would be resolved by the end of the month.
"There were some technical delays on that matter, but we are confident that the process is still on track. The CFO remains innocent until proven otherwise," said Peter.
Meanwhile, the Makana caucus of the DA has consistently opposed Baart's suspension, expressing doubts that proper procedures have been followed. In a statement released over the weekend, Councillor Brian Jackson said Baart had been deliberately undermined by a local ANC congress.
“The question arises of the purpose of the Makana Council and whether it is but a rubber stamp for another body who membership and impartiality is unknown and whose decisions are unaccountable to the broader electorate”. Jackson warned that should Baart's suspension rebound on the municipality, “it is the ratepayers who will have to pick up the bill”.
