The Makana Municipality has again met behind closed doors and emerged with yet another suspension order for Municipal Manager Ntombi Baart, this time for 90 days.
The Makana Municipality has again met behind closed doors and emerged with yet another suspension order for Municipal Manager Ntombi Baart, this time for 90 days.
Neither the press nor Baart were present at the meeting. She has been suspended with full pay and this is what was discussed in the confidential meeting on Monday, a reliable source in the Makana municipality told Grocott's Mail on Tuesday.
The mayor will write a letter informing her of this decision which has been taken by the council. The source said the meeting was closed because people had been telling Baart what the council had discussed, before the mayor had corresponded with her. Making the matter confidential was a way to prevent people from unofficially telling her what was going on.
Les Reynolds of the Democratic Alliance refused to comment on what took place at the session. "I need to be very careful about this because its confidential and I cannot say anything. Yes, I don't agree with confidential things and we always disagree with the mayor about that. But we have to respect the majority of the council."
In that meeting, the mayor also asked the councillors to create a position for a strategic manager in his office. The DA challenged the move, claiming that most of the tasks were those performed by Municipal Spokesperson Thandy Matebese.
A quick vote ratified the move, and the DA lost by a large margin. The source said the confidential meeting revealed flaws in the process that led to Baart's first, 30-day precautionary suspension on 10 May.
On 8 June, another special closed council meeting gave her seven days' special leave. The source refused to discuss the matter further, saying the process was similar to that taken when Chief Financial Officer Jackson Ngcelwane was suspended last year.
Ngcelwane was placed on a precautionary suspension on the basis of a preliminary investigation by Baart in May last year. Mayor Zamuxolo Peter said on Tuesday that the council decided to suspend Baart on the basis of Makana's poor annual reports and allegations of poor conduct in council meetings.
On Tuesday she reported to work but the council issued her with the letter of 90 days suspension and she left again, Peter said.
They needed 90 days to investigate allegations that had been brought against her, he said. Within that period of time results of the investigation must come out, and if we fail to come up with solid evidence of the allegations against her, then a process of bringing her back to work will begin, Peter said.
Peter said the investigation might reveal surprises and could go in any direction. Another municipal source told Grocott's Mail on Tuesday that Baart had not yet answered to the council's allegations. The source said her lawyers had presented a letter at Monday's meeting.
