I’m Mike Hampton, Speaker for the Knysna Council and Councillor for the Our Town party. It’s 9am. Today we have a billion rand budget on the table. The Public has forced us to reveal the findings of the disciplinary enquiry into CFO Mbulelo Memani. There may be an attempted overthrow of our government by the Developer’s Alliance (DA). Consequently, it’s important that I apply the rules, be dignified and look good on Zoom. Yes, I’m hosting this important meeting via video link with 20 other councillors… err… Acting Municipal Manager … Read the full article…
Minister Finance Tito Mboweni is to be credited for delivering overdue honesty regarding the state of South Africa’s economy. He did so during the medium term budget speech, what some call the mini-budget. It’s also good news that the National Prosecuting Authority’s budget is going to radically increase. But positivity dies there, overwhelmed by a storm we have little chance of clearing. BUDGET INTENTIONS The intended unbundling of Eskom, and SAA partnership with private companies, will be stopped by unions. The R59-billion Eskom bailout Eskom just received is harsh fact … Read the full article…
“Municipal Money is our money, spent in our name. As citizens, we should know how this money has been spent and also have a say in how money is spent in the future to better our lives.” After you watch this video, visit MUNICIPAL MONEY to discover how well your municipality is managing its money. Some info is a year old but gives a good introduction to newcomers.
Do you identify your life with any of these issues? This may be about Knysna Budget 2017-2018 but i’m betting that many of you readers, no matter where you live, will relate to some of the points i’m making. This is about municipal loans, wasted monies, rental crisis, education to attract investment, the environment, tourism, potholes, public participation, transparency and the contribution of ratepayers who are seemingly disrespected by being kept in the dark. Attention: Acting Municipal Manager Johnny Douglas, Chief Financial Officer Mbulelo Memani, Mayor Eleanore Spies, Speaker Georlene … Read the full article…
This is the story of politics, power, wasted public monies and a municipal employee called Avitha Sunkar. It is also about Knysna, a South African town with an enormous question mark on it. Sunkar is the Manager of the Budget Office for Knysna Municipality. She is an exception in a local government pirate ship that has found managers and politicians departing like rats from fire. A CORRUPT TOWN Despite major negative findings by the Auditor General, Knysna got a clean audit. Municipal Manager Grant Easton and then-Mayor Georlene Wolmarans told … Read the full article…
“As often happens in politics, you can be heroes and liberators but if you hang around long enough, you can be the villains too…” – Speaker Eleonor Spies, at the start of the Budget Meeting. The Knysna Council meeting of May 29, the one that would decide the budget for 2015/2016, was a mixed bag of positives and uncertainties. Most concerning is that negatives were generally bypassed and positives highlighted whereas all should have been addressed equally. I’m going to end this blog on a positive but the fact is … Read the full article…
