The DA, EFF, FF+, Good and the Sol Plaatje Service Delivery Forum voted against the appointment of Nomonde Kesiamang as the acting municipal manager during a council meeting on Tuesday.
THE DA, EFF, FF+, Good and the Sol Plaatje Service Delivery Forum voted against the appointment of Nomonde Kesiamang as the acting municipal manager during a council meeting on Tuesday.
Goolam Akharwaray ended his contract as municipal manager at Sol Plaatje Municipality on March 4.
Names proposed for the position during the council meeting included executive director of corporate services Ruth Sebolecwe and executive director of community and social development Khuza Bogacwi.
DA caucus leader Heinrich Pieterse stated that it would be unfair to expect council to endorse the appointment of any individual as she was not familiar to the majority of first-time councillors.
“We do not know if the proposed candidate has the requisite qualifications, competencies or experience for this capacity. Also as a benchmarking exercise and what their performance assessments are in her respective department.”
He believed that the candidate should inform council of what they envisaged for the municipality and how they would implement it. “This is especially in light of the fact that this municipality is cash-strapped and grant-dependent and we would have to adjust any official’s salary upwards to such an appointment.”
Pieterse proposed that it would be more cost-effective to petition the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs or Treasury to second a competent official in an interim capacity until the municipal manager post was filled and interviews were completed.
He pointed out that documentation for the meeting was only made available to councillors about an hour after the meeting had started and only after the executive mayor had made his recommendation.
“The document had a glaring admission as it made a presumption that the house endorses the recommendation of the mayor irrespective of the house weighing in on such an important decision. The decision on the appointment of Nomonde Kesiamang was carried by a majority vote of 34 votes cast by the ANC and Patriotic Alliance, while the DA, EFF, Good, Sol Plaatje Service Delivery Forum and the FF+ cast 28 votes against the decision.”
