By the end of Thursday 4 December Makana will know whether it's on the road to financial and administrative recovery with the current Council – or whether its citizens must get ready to elect a new local government.
By the end of Thursday 4 December Makana will know whether it's on the road to financial and administrative recovery with the current Council – or whether its citizens must get ready to elect a new local government.
It's a critical moment as Bhisho-appointed administrator in Makana Municipality Pam Yako prepares to present her draft turnaround strategy in tomorrow's Council meeting.
"Under the current circumstances, I don't think Council has any choice," Makana Civil Society Coalition convener Jonathan Walton told Grocott's Mail on Tuesday 2 December.
"Given the minister of local government's dissatisfaction with this Council, dissolving the Council seems inevitable unless they support the plan."
Yako was appointed administrator in Makana Municipality in terms of Section Section 139 1(b) on 28 August. In a recent interview with Grocott's Mail she indicated that although her contract was for six months she hoped to see it extended to nine months.
"After that and I become part of the problem," she quipped.
Walton believes she will need at least a year to be effective and says this is what the Coalition is likely to urge. He says while the Coalition does not currently have a database, approximately 45 individuals and organisations are on its mailing list. The Coalition formed just under two months ago following growing concern over the lack of action to restore financial and administrative order to the municipality.
Coalition chairperson Vukile Zondani said the approval of the turnaround plan would not affect the way the coalition is structured.
Instead, the coalition would seek to recruit individuals with the skills needed to help the municipality get back on to its feet. They would volunteer in their fields of expertise said Zondani.
"Makana citizens as a whole need to understand that this is a process and we all need to help in this process," Zondani said.
"The coalition is not about municipal business only. It's about the whole of Makana and Grahamstown and making it a place in which we want to be."
Zondani urged members of the public to attend a Service Delivery Summit at 9am on Friday 5 December in the Extension 6 Indoor Sports Centre.
Yako is scheduled to present the turnaround plan, for public feedback.
