The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) has voted against the Western Cape local government’s decision to dissolve the Knysna municipality council.
The NCOP announced the decision after select committee on co-operative governance chair Mxolisi Kaunda presented a report after a site visit conducted earlier this week.
This comes about two weeks after local governance MEC Anton Bredell announced that the provincial cabinet had decided to dissolve the Knysna municipal council and appoint an administrator, who would assume all executive and legislative authority until a new council was elected.
On Friday, it was revealed that barring the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, all other NCOP representatives voted against the decision.
In his report, Kaunda instead made recommendations to assist the ailing municipality.
“Having engaged and solicited the opinions of the internal and external stakeholders on invocation of section 139 [1] [c] of the constitution in Knysna local municipality, the select committee recommends to the National Council of Provinces [that it] disapproves the invocation of [the] section.
“They recommend that in the spirit of co-operative governance and intergovernmental relations, [various departments] should provide structured, systematic and co-ordinated support in terms of section 154 to Knysna local municipality.”
The committee also recommended that the minister of water & sanitation should provide systemic and structured support in terms of section 63 of the Water Services Act to enable the municipality to deal with challenges related to water, sanitation and ageing infrastructure.
Kaunda said during their visit the majority of the committee’s members had noted with concern that Bredell failed to respond to their questions on whether the municipality failed to adopt the approved funded budget, integrated development planning and service delivery budget implementation plan.
He said the committee had noted that majority of internal and external stakeholders such as chief whips of political parties, organised labour, and the SA Local Government Association had tabled opinions that collectively rejected the invocation of section 139 (1) (c) of the constitution in Knysna municipality.
After listening to the report, NCOP chair Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane called on the NCOP members to vote on the select committee’s recommendation, after deliberating on the matter.
Out of nine provinces, only the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal voted against.
When deliberating on the issue, NCOP DA member Nicholas Gotsell said the decision did a disservice to residents who lived daily with the consequences of failed governance under the ANC, EFF, Knysna Independent Movement, Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners and the PA.
“Knysna has persistently failed to fulfil its constitutional obligations.
“Water supply is unreliable and unsafe, and the reservoir that a body was found in is still unfenced and without security.
“Sanitation has collapsed, with untreated sewage flowing into rivers and neighbourhoods, and waste removal is inconsistent and hazardous.
“Resident organisations and community groups have been forced to step in and perform municipal functions since 2022,” he said.
However, a NCOP member from Limpopo, who voted in favour, ANC member Sylvia Nxumalo, said they fully supported the report.
“Therefore we are not in support of the dissolution of the municipality.
“When we listen to the report from the NCOP, it is clear that, yes, the municipality, as with a number of our municipalities, has serious challenges.
“Whether you look at the issues of water provision, the blue drop, the green drop, looking at the quality of water that our municipalities are providing, it is indeed a challenge which we do agree [on], and it’s not only affecting Knysna.
“But [when] coming to a conclusion of dissolution of a municipality, you should have done everything in your powers as the provincial government, as the NCOP, to support that particular municipality.”
The Herald
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