A coalition of councillors claims due process was bypassed in key municipal appointments.
Councillors from the ANC with their opposition counterparts at the Maquassi Hills Local Municipality in North West plan to approach the courts to reverse a decision by council speaker Sarah Nkatlo to unilaterally appoint a chief financial officer, who did not meet the job requirements.
The councillors accuse Nkatlo of appointing officials without considering the council’s preference for a more experienced candidate, as identified by the council majority.
On Friday, four ANC councillors walked out of a meeting in protest as the CFO appointment was on the agenda.
Together with councillors from the SA Political Association (Sapa), EFF, DA, Freedom Front Plus and Forum For Service Delivery, they said by ignoring the majority, Nkatlo violated the council’s established rules and as a presiding officer, her duty was just to facilitate the council proceedings.
The dispute arose when the municipal manager submitted three candidates for consideration.
Apparently, the ANC councillors favoured the first candidate on the list.
However, the opposition parties and the four dissenting ANC councillors identified the second candidate as more suitable as he possessed extensive experience and relevant qualifications.
Additionally he is a CFO in another municipality.
Eight ANC councillors supported the choice of the first candidate, but the majority, comprising 15 opposition members and four ANC councillors, preferred the better-qualified candidate.
Sello Moraka, a spokesperson for Sapa and a councillor, said instead of putting the matter to a council vote, Nkatlo overruled the majority and appointed the first candidate as CFO, despite objections from both the opposition and a faction of the ANC, Nkatlo insisted she was exercising her “discretion” and allegedly directed the council to move on to the next agenda item.
The subsequent agenda item was the appointment of the director of community services, which Nkatlo rushed through, allegedly to facilitate the appointment of a particular candidate, a manager in her office.
Again, the opposition and four ANC councillors objected, advocating for an apparently better-qualified candidate.
Support Local Journalism
Add The Citizen as a Preferred Source on Google and follow us on Google News to see more of our trusted reporting in Google News and Top Stories.