Knysna Municipal Manager’s Contract Terminated
On Friday, August 12 2011, a special meeting of the Knysna Council ended the contract of Municipal Manager, Johnny Douglas.
Mayor Georlene Wolmarans said that this was an amicable agreement between both parties and that this allowed her to “pursue the new mandate of Council and to bring about stronger alignment between our political mandate and executive administrative leadership.”
Those who were angered by the Municipal Manager’s R98 000 per month salary will probably receive this as good news but questions do hang in the air. How much remuneration will Johnny Douglas will be receiving for this termination and how much will his successor earn? Additionally, political speech fails to explain the real process that lead to this action.
Lauren Waring, Director of Planning & Development, has been appointed as Acting Municipal Manager in the interim. This is likely to give the DA-led, Knysna Council, more control, especially in the broader context of the ongoing audit and the Anti-Fraud unit to be established later this month.
Whatever the reasoning and explanations, expect more heads to roll.
NB: The same day, 2 senior officials in the Eden District Municipality in the Western Cape were suspended for alleged mismanagement involving irregular staff appointments and failure to follow supply chain management procedures – read full article.
Plettenberg’s DA Mayor, Memory Booysen, was to hold a big meeting with municipal workers. This follows after their Municipal Manager was suspended. Unfortunately, n o details available.
People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply; by the lives they lead. It’s not what you pay a man, but what he costs you that counts.
When we become a really mature, grown-up, wise society, we will put teachers at the center of the community, where they belong. We don’t honor them enough, we don’t pay them enough.
“A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.”
Thomas Jefferson
[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ‘0 which is not a hashcash value.
Thanks for that wisdom. Profound and true.
PS: You were sent into spam by mistake again so sorry for slow response.
Have you not yet learned that politicians and municipal officials everywhere, whether they are DA, ANC or whoever, look out for themselves? They don’t really care for the constituents, they are definitely on the “Gravy Train”, because the previous president, Thabo Mbeki said long ago it’s not a sin to get rich if you’re a politician. As long as we vote during elections, they are happy with us. However, we, as the public forget to vote against them when we remember their huge and unbelievable salaries and perks, we seem to vote for the party, irrespective of whether they carry out what they are supposed to do for the constituents or not. Therefore it’s our own fault. We have the power to elect the “right’ people, we must just act according to our own conscience!!!
[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ‘0 which is not a hashcash value.
Heini, i totally agree and have placed the blame on the public many times on this blog. Apathy and fear is killing our town, poor excuses as we watch our future slip away. Most people don’t even know who the councillors are. I even meet people who don’t know the mayor’s name – pathetic! We have to vote for individuals and then ensure, when elected, that they do what they promised.
Accountability would be nice. But I think honesty is taking it a click too far.
far too much of our rates and taxes are used for fat bums on seats. Wish the new council would not sign long term contracts with new municipal managers. They should have a 30 day notice period- so they can be fired easily if they are not performing. Why do the tax payers have to suck the hind tit all the time? each time the administration changes hands the existing municipal manager is fired, money is wasted. Is this a political position? It should not be. It is time for people to wake up and think creatively for the greater good, or we will ALL be suffering. I expect a helluva a lot from officials with this sort of salary.
Maylou, i expect so too. We have the right. Instead, we have leaders making decisions behind closed doors and all earning inflated pay packets that have little to do with a service to the community. There are so many complaints about the ANC (and i have mine too) but the DA has done nothing to gain faith. I’m interested in honesty, accountability, community interaction and overall action. In these tough times, those are the things that count more than ever.
Hopefully they will now take a long hard look at the Oyster Walk development and the reasons Johnny Douglas had for pushing that one through. This despite the glaring evidence of maladministration, inappropriate and patently illegal transactions.
The birds always come out to play after the fact. Sure that we will be learning about misdeeds of many over the next year. If only the public and municipal staff would shrug off cowardice and fight for our town, their town, in the moment!