Makana finally has a new municipal manager. Dr Pravine Naidoo is returning to the hot seat, six years after his previous term in the position, municipal spokesperson Mncedisi Boma told Grocott's Mail this morning.
Makana finally has a new municipal manager. Dr Pravine Naidoo is returning to the hot seat, six years after his previous term in the position, municipal spokesperson Mncedisi Boma told Grocott's Mail this morning.
Naidoo's proposed appointment was tabled confidentially among councillors at a marathon special council meeting yesterday afternoon.
"This is a very important Council meeting. We are about to appoint the accounting officer in this institution today," Mayor Zamuxolo Peter told councillors, officials and the media in the City Hall Council Chambers yesterday afternoon.
Midway through the afternoon's deliberations, the Speaker announced the confidential agenda item and a document was handed out among councillors.
Makana has been without a municipal manager since Ntombi Baart was suspended in June last year.
Since January there had been strong speculation, fuelled by talk in the City Hall corridors, that Naidoo would return to fill the hot seat.
His previous term as municipal manager ended in 2007, among bitterness and controversy.
He'd spent six years as Makana's chief accounting officer. A campaign to be reinstated in that position ended in September 2008 with a hearing at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration that ruled in favour of the municipality.
"Dr Naidoo is not a stranger to Makana municipality," said Boma this morning. "He has been a part of the Makana community for a long time – we wanted a person who would hit the ground running."
Boma also pointed out Naidoo's legal expertise as a deciding factor in his appointment. "He has a legal background, so he can advise Council on a number of areas," he explained.
The panel responsible for Naidoo's appointment comprised Executive Mayor Zamuxolo Peter, acting municipal manager Thembinkosi Myalato, Cacadu municipal manager Ted Pillay, and councillors Julie Wells, Piryawaden Ranchhod and Les Reynolds.
