Senior Makana officials and politicians vanished during the newly appointed administrator's first week in office, leaving her to face protesting residents alone.
Senior Makana officials and politicians vanished during the newly appointed administrator's first week in office, leaving her to face protesting residents alone.
This is according to an urgent SMS sent out by Pamela Yako to ANC leadership in the province, asking for help. Yako sent the text a day before a march led by the Makana Business Chamber last week, claiming she had been abandoned by top officials and politicians.
In the SMS, which Grocott's Mail has seen, Yako indicates that she is faced with a crisis and asks the leaders for help in anticipation of the march the following day.
"Dear leadership, just to let you know that we are in a crisis, Mayor is on sick leave and I will see him later.
"The full time councillors are not here, the director Technical and next two in command are not here. Nobody knows where they are. Mr Mnguni is on sick leave till Friday.
"There is no water in the town and there is a big march tomorrow… I need help," the SMS reads.
Yako and the Mayor started off on a good note, and appeared to be on the same page. Both spoke of a back-to-basics approach and said working with the existing team within the municipality should be the starting point for turning Makana around.
In an interview with Grocott's Mail, Yako brushed off the SMS as a non-issue, accusing the person who leaked it of being mischievous.
"No, that person is notorious. What happened is that when I arrived that day, I didn't know who was sitting in which office, and I realised that not everyone is housed in the main offices," she said.
Yako said she had since been introduced to everyone, including the Mayoral Committee and the Speaker.
"We have even been attending a workshop with National Treasury," said Yako.
Speaking about the day before the march, Yako said she met with the Makana leadership and told them not to address the marchers.
"I asked them not to come because I saw the petition beforehand and I was not sure how volatile the situation would be.
"There were allegations about certain people in the municipality and I asked them not to come. We did not know the extent of their anger, so we decided it was better that I address the march.
"We met the day before," she said. Yako also set the record straight regarding her maladministration case.
"Councillor Wells addressed the Water Affairs incident [in the opinion piece published in Grocott's Mail on 10 October 2014].
"I think it's safe to say that the case of Yako vs Water affairs had a result of unfair dismissal and I was compensated.
"I would really like to put all of that behind me and focus on the Makana challenge and see what results I can achieve," she said.
Wells wrote that Yako successfully resolved allegations of misconduct through a Bargaining Council arbitration. DA caucus leader Les Reynolds said his party would give Yako all the support she needs. He said he didn't think she would be able to sort everything out in six months, but they would back her up.
"We want to see this town flourish and so we will do everything in our power to support her. That is our principle, provided that she is doing the right thing," he said.
