After much discussion and debate, the Grocott’s Mail newsroom has reached consensus that the former Makana municipal manager, Ntombekhaya Baart, should be accorded the status of Newsmaker of the Year for 2012.
After much discussion and debate, the Grocott’s Mail newsroom has reached consensus that the former Makana municipal manager, Ntombekhaya Baart, should be accorded the status of Newsmaker of the Year for 2012.
We have not heard much about her in recent weeks, but during the course of the year she was prominent on the pages of this newspaper on many occasions.
Baart occupied what is arguably the hottest seat in City Hall. As the accounting officer for Makana Municipality, the buck stopped with her – so it was not surprising that she was always in the news. If a pipe burst, houses cracked, reservoirs ran dry or the Auditor General trashed yet another report – the person to face the music was Baart.
Grocott’s Mail was pleased to welcome her to Makana in an editorial published on 15 August 2008 because we were acutely aware of how important the post is, and how much residents of the municipality had suffered following the controversial departure of her predecessor.
In an interview immediately after her appointment, Baart said she would call on her contacts in the Eastern Cape provincial administration to fast track service delivery in the area. She also said it would be embarrassing for her if the eradication of the bucket system was not complete by the end of her five-year term. Initial impressions were positive.
People liked her, and often working late into the night she appeared to get things done more effectively than Thabiso Klaas, the man who had been acting-municipal manager for almost a year. Her motto, she said, was “do unto others as you wish others to do unto you”.
But she complained that her directors did not support her. In 2012, Baart was in the news for many reasons but there were several big stories that tipped the award in her direction. First of all she was instrumental in the suspension and ultimate firing of the chief financial officer, (CFO) Jackson Ngcelwane.
It was more than self evident in the first quarter of 2011 that there were problems with the municipal books, as the Auditor General found that large amounts of money were not properly accounted for. Baart blamed Ngcelwane and had him suspended on full pay for more than a year.
It was not long however, before she found herself on the ropes as the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) demanded in February this year that Mayor Zamuxolo Peter dismiss her within a week. The union threatened to strike if their demands were not met.
UPM leader Ayanda Kota supported Samwu’s position challenging the suspension of the CFO and said the Municipal Manager's performance, too, should be under scrutiny.
"The MM is the accounting officer, it makes her accountable for all transactions," Kota said at the time.
The Democratic Alliance opposed moves to suspend Baart. Local DA leader, Les Reynolds explained: “She knows what she is doing.”
Protests were to no avail, as Baart was suspended on full pay in June, reportedly on charges linked to the accusations she had levelled against Ngcelwane. The precise nature of the charges against Baart was never revealed to the public as the municipality geared up for yet another protracted legal battle.
The battle was, however, averted as Baart’s lawyers reached a confidential out-of-court settlement with the municipality at the end of September. Grocott’s Mail was curious about why the municipality and Baart had parted ways – but the reasons were never revealed.
We lodged a formal Protection of Access to Information (PAIA) request for this information and it was rejected by the current acting municipal manager. We then lodged an appeal with the Mayor’s office and have not yet received any response to the appeal. We want to know this information because we believe that Baart’s contract was terminated due to possible financial irregularities.
If this is the case, we would like to tell ratepayers how their money was wasted. Other strong contenders for the Newsmaker title were the Mayor Zamuxolo Peter and rhino expert William Fowlds.
Peter featured on the cover of Grocott’s Mail more than any other person, including Baart, but he was not quite as controversially newsy. Fowlds appeared in the newspaper on many occasions linked to the alarming spike in rhino-poaching in the Eastern Cape.
