The Western Cape government wants to place the Knysna municipality under administration.
Local government MEC Anton Bredell issued a notice of intention last week to invoke Section 139 of the constitution.
This allows the provincial government to intervene in the municipality and assume powers from the council.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Bredell said he wanted to recommend to the provincial cabinet that the council be dissolved.
The notice allows the council to respond to the intention to intervene.
“This decision to issue a notice of intention to intervene demonstrates the Western Cape government’s commitment to restoring good governance and ensuring that the residents of Knysna receive the basic municipal services to which they are entitled,” he said.
According to the statement, repeated efforts to assist and support the municipality have been unsuccessful.
“The Western Cape government has provided extensive support, including emergency water tanker services during shortages, the provision of backup generators to maintain pump station operations during load-shedding, and refuse removal vehicles,” the statement says.
“Despite various interventions, the municipality has not prioritised addressing its executive obligation failures.”
In 2024, the municipality received R9.7m in water resilience grant funding, which included technical support, regular site visits and assistance with refuse management and water resilience measures, according to the statement.
“Western Cape government officials have also been seconded to the municipality to drive the acceleration of water and wastewater infrastructure projects with the grant funding which was provided.”
Instead, he said, the situation continued to deteriorate.
“The consequences have been severe: repeated sewage spills, prolonged water shortages and inconsistent refuse removal have had a serious effect on residents, businesses and the environment,” the statement said.
Mayor Thando Matika rejected claims that the municipality had made no progress.
He said that since the council adopted the consolidated executive obligations monitoring and enforcement framework in 2024, several structural reforms had been implemented.
These included the strengthening of the internal audit committee.
He said this had led to 97% completion of the audit action plan by February.
The municipality had also broadened the rollout of smart metering for both water and electricity and improved revenue management and expenditure control practices.
“The revamped waste transfer station achieved 100% containerisation of waste, eliminating previous environmental hazards caused by stockpiling,” he said.
“An external audit yielded a 91% environmental compliance score.
“A January 23 oversight visit by the deputy minister of water and sanitation reaffirmed that resolving Knysna’s water and sewer challenges requires intergovernment and community co-operation.
“Knysna’s recovery is built on partnerships.
“Ongoing collaboration with the national and provincial government, PetroSA, DWS [department of water and sanitation}, department of forestry, fisheries and the environment, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency and local civil society has unlocked resources, guided technical responses and aligned intergovernmental roles.
“We continue to engage with the SA Local Government Association and Treasury to strengthen municipal finance capacity.”
The Herald
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