Seventh Mayoral letter
26 January 2012
Greetings for 2012!
At the start of our new year I would like to compliment the huge effort that went into security and crowd control for the Matric Rage, New Year’s Day and the season generally.
For the Matric Rage, an annual event that draws thousands of school leavers to Plettenberg Bay, considerable effort and coordination went into protecting our students. The SAPS, Traffic department, night clubs, the taxi association all worked together to improve transport for the students late at night and protection around the clock. A private security firm was contracted to assist with safety and check that no liquor was sold to under 18s. An estimated 5,000 students came to Plett during the two-week period. Their visit contributes greatly to our economy, and we appreciate them.
A similar joint effort went into the celebration on New Year’s Day and I can proudly say it was the calmest and best controlled in years. For the first time, we enforced the liquor act which bans liquor in public areas and allowed no alcohol on the beaches. People were searched and either turned away or requested to pour it out. People want a safe day on the beach with their kids and said it was a relief not to have drunk people spoiling the atmosphere.
We will continue to enforce this ban year round, and request increased police presence to also deter theft. Beach clean-up personnel said rather than needing a front end loader for all the bottles, they just needed a rake. Thanks to all the participating departments and private sector who worked together to keep our beaches safe and a fun place to spend the day. It was noticed and appreciated.
Feedback from the staff on the ground is that they were encouraged that senior management were very visible on the ground, showed a keen interest in what was happening and were supportive of their efforts.
That said; there were still unacceptable incidents of crime all over Plett, from our townships to high profile areas such as our main street, shopping malls and the beaches. We cannot rest on our laurels. There are many suggestions coming in of how we can improve and these suggestions are welcomed and will be seriously considered by those responsible. We have to walk the tight rope between being over controlling-spoil-sports and having zero tolerance for crime – we will give this our best shot. Your feedback is invaluable in achieving this.
RETRACTION.
On page two of my letter dated 9 December 2011, under the heading “R28 m Land Fiasco”, I reported on various issues relating to the agreement for the purchase of land dated 28 January 2011 entered into between Wavelengths and Bitou. Following this letter our attorneys received a letter from Wavelengths attorneys recording that they were of the view that the statements published were defamatory and/or inaccurate and reserving Wavelength’s rights in this regard. We dispute that these statements were defamatory and/or inaccurate in any respect, and the municipality does not admit any liability in this regard. The Municipality nevertheless hereby unconditionally retracts the statements made, and specifically the statement that ‘As time passes by it becomes more and more evident that the deal was not kosher. Criminal charges are currently being investigated in parallel with the disciplinary charges already running’.
We can now report that Judge Combrinck has handed down his findings in the disciplinary hearing of the suspended Municipal Manager. Certain of the charges brought against the suspended Municipal Manager were related to the role he played in this land deal. Judge Combrinck has found the suspended Municipal Manager guilty on four of the seven charges brought against him for breaches of various provisions of the Municipal Systems Act and the Municipal Financial Management Act.
The suspended Municipal Manager was found guilty of misrepresenting to Wavelengths attorneys that the Municipality had obtained the funds to pay the agreed price of R28 million for the purchase of the land, and of giving the false impression that the suspensive condition contained in the Deed of Sale (namely, that the sale would only become effective once the funds necessary to pay the purchase had been secured from Province) had been met. In coming to his finding Judge Combrinck commented that what the suspended Municipal Manager’s “motive was for persuading the Council to pay R28 million for the property remains unanswered. That he did not act with fidelity, honesty and integrity is stating the obvious”.
The R28m land deal/Wavelengths trial date has been rescheduled to 28 February, 2012.
Personnel Changes
Chief Financial Officer Deon Lott resigned effective 20 January, and Manager of Budget and Treasury Mandy Cornett resigned effective 13 January; both have joined Oudtshoorn’s municipality.
Arising out of these two resignations, Thys Giliomee, has been appointed Acting Chief Financial Officer until the position can be advertised and filled. Thys is highly qualified, holding six university degrees, in law, economics and public administration, and is an advocate of the High Court. I think it is safe to say that our finances are in capable and safe hands.
Keith Jordaan, former CFO of Oudtshoorn, has been appointed Acting Manager of Budget and Treasury until the position is advertised and filled. He has been a tremendous asset to us already. In my next letter I will have a full report on our finances once Thys and Keith have done their investigations and Council receives the Auditor-General report.
I am also very pleased to welcome Dupre Lombaard who joined us 1 January as our Head of Strategic Services, responsible for Town Planning, Tourism, Local Economic Development, Integrated Development Planning, Building Controls & Infrastructure, and Performance Management Systems. Dupre joins us from Stellenbosch Municipality and is a Plett homeowner. One of Dupre’s priorities will be to clean out the backlog of building applications and get the construction industry pumping in Plett. If you have an outstanding land use and/or building application that you would like to enquire about, please send an email or letter to the Acting Municipal Manager, Duppie du Plessis ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).
Maladministration
Contrary to the untruthful rumours being spread in e-mails, on websites and in the local press, preliminary investigations into maladministration and corruption in our administration have revealed that a disturbing number of such incidents did indeed take place. It is time consuming to investigate these, compile the necessary evidence and draft the disciplinary, criminal and other charges and civil claims against those involved. The mere fact that we have not, as yet, acted in this regard does not mean that no evidence has been found.
I am advised that charge sheets will be served on at least nine employees relating to financial and other misconduct and that the disciplinary hearings will commence in February.
As I have mentioned before, it is a long, arduous process to investigate and prepare the charges, but we are making progress. Already there are signs that people who have been involved in shady activities are seeking greener pastures elsewhere.
We remain determined to root out all maladministration and corruption in the municipality. We will do so without fear or favour and will not spare anybody involved whether they are employees, ex-employees or outsiders.
Organizational Restructuring.
It has been a long process, but our much-needed Organizational Design project will commence in February with PricewaterhouseCoopers having been appointed as the service provider. This project is being funded by Province and its objective will be to determine the organization structure needed to do the work of our municipality efficiently and what posts are needed, develop a proper job description for each post and ensure a suitable person is in that post. To know exactly who is responsible for what will make the municipality much more manageable. The anticipated completion date is August 2012 whereafter it will go to Council for approval.
Dimension Data
As the saying goes, “No good deed will go unpunished.” As reported before, Didata, through the good offices of Jeremy Ord, assisted us in our moment of need to do a system and needs analysis of our IT system. It produced a very comprehensive report enabling us to accurately assess the current IT situation. This extensive, time consuming and very costly work was done at no cost to the municipality. I reiterate, that contrary to the vicious rumours and malicious allegations being spread via email and on the internet, the work was done free of charge with no strings attached.
Inter alia it was found that the whole IT system was at a point of imminent melt-down. Drastic measures were required – immediately. There was no time to go to tender to get a service provider to draw up detailed specifications to call for tenders to deal with the problem. The problem needed to be dealt with immediately. On that basis the Municipal Manager obtained a quote from Didata to do what has to be done immediately to keep us going while tender specifications are drafted and the tender process can be followed to appoint a long-term service provider. We are satisfied that what we are paying is in line with industry norms and standards and that the service received so far is necessary and of an excellent standard.
The municipality will shortly be calling for tenders for the implementation of the comprehensive IT system. It is expected that this contract will be awarded towards the middle of this year.
I apologize to Jeremy Ord, Didata and their staff for the totally unwarranted bad publicity they have received from this very small, malicious and destructive element of Plett’s society.
Airport Update
The two best and final offers for the operation of the airport have been presented to our transaction advisor, Mr. Sarel Liebenberg, who will evaluate the final two bids, and our transaction attorney, Mr. Gerhard Botha, who will negotiate and draft the agreement with the final bidder. After their review, they will present the successful bidder to Mayco and Council.
An “open-day” will be held for the public to view the proposal and for the successful bidder to address any concerns and take note of suggestions.
This has been a long process because procedure has been followed exactly, and there are many different interests to consider, such as adjacent land owners and hanger owners. There are several improvements to the airport which will be required of the successful bidder and will have to be negotiated in the lease agreement and service level agreement. We appreciate your patience throughout this process.
Thanks to our Fire Fighters
I would like to recognize our Station Officer, Fire & Rescue, Hedley Venter and his firefighting team for their quick containment of a vegetation fire in Uplands on 10 January. A helicopter with bambi bucket was used to quickly contain the blaze along with the ground crew. Officer Venter would like to remind land owners of the need to create and maintain fire breaks as stipulated in the Veld and Forestry Fire Act to minimize fire risk. Please contact Officer Venter with any questions.
I wish to take this opportunity to appeal to everybody to exercise extreme caution when using fire. Please avoid it if at all possible. Especially in the rural areas, before you burn anything please contact your local FPA or the Bitou Fire Department for guidance.
Once again a very prosperous and happy New Year to everyone.
Memory Booysen
Mayor of Plettenberg Bay
Eighth Mayoral letter
28 March 2012
After sending out my eighth mayoral letter, I felt like I did not cover enough subjects or explain certain areas in enough detail, so I am sending you an eighth-and-a-half mayoral letter.
Update on Suspended Municipal Manager The ex Municipal Manager, Lonwabo Nqolo, was dismissed from Bitou Municipality on 7 February. He was found guilty on four of seven charges, the most serious being his involvement in the R28 million/Wavelengths land deal.
According to Judge P.C.Combrinck in his sentence:
[11] Taking all the counts as one for purposes of sanction I consider that dismissal is the only proper sanction. In the circumstances the sanction which I impose is one of dismissal from the service of the Municipality.
6th February 2012 JUDGE P.C.COMBRINCK
CHAIRMAN”
Judge Combrinck wrote a very impressive finding and sanction document which you are welcome to read in its entirety. For a copy please email my PA at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and he will email you a copy.
Mr. Hardy Mills, attorney for Mr. Ngoqo, referred a dispute to the South African Local Government Bargaining Council.
On behalf of Plett, I would like to thank Judge Pete Combrinck for his highly professional, thorough and exemplary chairmanship of Nqolo's disciplinary hearing.
Further to the Wavelengths land deal referred to in the sanction, the hearing to determine whether Wavelengths has a binding contract with Bitou Municipality, was heard in Cape Town High Court on 28-29 February. Judgement was reserved and a decision is expected around end of April.
PERSONNEL UPDATE
During the seven months the Municipal Manager was suspended, Duppie DuPlessis served as acting MM for Bitou Municipality. His contract has now ended and he has accepted a Municipal Manager position with Overberg Municipality.
Duppie has a well deserved reputation as municipal turnaround expert, and he certainly lived up to that reputation in Bitou. He immediately cut wasteful spending, drastically cut expenses, developed a realistic and balanced budget, obtained a R30m working loan, averted an IT meltdown, to name just a few things. His strong leadership will be missed and we greatly appreciate all that he did.
Thys Giliomee is serving as Acting Municipal Manager until the position is filled. The position of MM was advertised and applications closed 9 March. A short-list will now be developed and interviews will be conducted.
Vacancies from recent mutual resignations are listed below, along with their annual salaries. We will be replacing these officials at lower salaries in line with other municipalities.
Chief Financial Officer – Deon Lott (R1,058,212) (position of CFO will be filled after MM is shortlisted)
Director of Corporate Services – Carl Mattheus (he requested to be suspended pending an investigation) (R999,423)
Head of Policy, Strategic & Housing – Ralph Links (R999,423) replaced by Dupre Lombaard (R880,000).
Administrative Assistant – Thomas Nqolo (R647,506) (The JEF website stated that we fired Mr. Nqolo. This is not true. He applied for a medical disability and the pension fund and group life insurance fund approved his application. He was not dismissed.)
Political Advisor to the Mayor – Kenny Leluma (R597,888)
Manager: Town Planning – Ludolph Gericke (R718,539) (Mr. Gericke destroyed all the council property on his laptop before turning it in.)
Manager: Legal Services – Andrew Seroadi (R718,539)
Manager: Human Resources – Thembekile Machelesi (R684,212)
Manager: Supply Chain Management – Bhekinkosi Mkhonza (R584,796)
Manager: Budget & Treasury – Mandy Cornett (R653,217)
Manager: Expenditure – Andile Gogi (suspended, pending disciplinary)
Manager: Electrical & Mechanical Engineering – Lawrence Msibi (R684,211)
Law Enforcement Officers - Siyasanga Vandala and Stembile Mgoqwana (suspended, pending disciplinary).
Hardy Mills made a comment on his JEF website that many of these officials were fired because they leaked information to JEF about tenders, etc. Just to correct the record, many of these officials resigned to avoid charges of gross financial misconduct which, if found guilty, would ban them from working in local government for a term of 10 years. Part of the agreement was, if they resigned, we would withdraw charges.
Certain positions will be advertised and filled ASAP, while others will wait until the Organisational Design project is complete. Acting Managers have been assigned and in some areas we are seeing an improvement in service delivery.
Municipalities are required by law to have the Chief Financial Officer post filled at all times so Bitou has hired Mubesco, a company specialising in municipal accounting support and financial statements, to assist on a month-to-month basis. Arnold Bredenhann is serving as Acting CFO; Hennie Le Roux is assisting the Acting Manager: Budget & Treasury; and Gerrie Groenewald is Acting Manager: Supply Chain Management.
I would like to extend a special thank you to Paul Falla, retired Group HR Manager with one of Anglo American’s subsidiaries and resident of Plett, who has volunteered, at no cost, to oversee the Human Resources department until a manager is appointed. Bitou is very fortunate to have the benefit of Paul’s expertise and appreciate his generous support.
And I would also like to thank Debi Nicholson who is volunteering in the Acting Municipal Manager’s office with communications, intranet, website development, the organisational design project, and a myriad of other projects. Debi’s American expertise and assistance is greatly appreciated.
Organisation Design Project
The Organisation Design Project being conducted by Pricewaterhouse Coopers officially commenced on 19 March and will be completed in August 2012. The outcome will be a new and legally compliant organisation structure for the municipality, including proper job descriptions for everyone, streamlined reporting lines, implementing measurable outcomes, and ensuring skills transfer pertaining to the new structure. This project is not being driven by cost-savings, as is being rumoured, but rather the achievement of more efficient service delivery. Once complete, the structure recommendation will go to council for adoption.
Council Remuneration
Bitou Municipality's grading has changed from level 2 to level 3. Inter alia this means that Councillors are entitled to a salary at a higher level together with a 5% increase retro-active to 1 July 2011.
But, don't panic....
Council decided that there will be no salary increase for Bitou councillors in the 2011/2012 financial year since there is a greater need to apply these funds elsewhere to the direct benefit of the people they serve. In the greater scheme of things it is not a great deal of money, but as they say in the classics, it is the thought that counts.
Finances
Money remains TIGHT.
Bitou completed its Adjustments Budget the end of January and discovered a R27 million shortfall in revenue forecast by the ex CFO. A new Adjustments Budget has been prepared and we will have to keep strictly within limits. I would like to thank Keith Jordaan, former CFO of Oudtshoorn, who joined us mid-January to mid-February, and completed the Adjustments Budget, making us the first in the Western Cape to do so. Mr. Jordaan has now joined George as CFO.
A “Revenue Enhancement” team from Pricewaterhouse Coopers is assisting Bitou in investigating and recouping property taxes, service charges and other fees and charges from property owners and developers who were for various reasons not paying their fare share. They have collected over R5 million to date. In cases where property owners refuse to pay, we are forced to take legal action to recover. Some of the anomalies are suspicious and how exactly they came about will be subject to further probe.
In addition, the CFO has undertook to review the tariff policy to ensure equity and fairness to all our residents.
AUDIT COMMITTEE
A Council Item was prepared for the 16 February Council meeting to remove Mr. Brian Molefe as a member of the Bitou Local Municipality Audit Committee. Before Council could table the discussion, the item was interdicted by Mr. Molefe. Bitou Municipality entered a plea to oppose the interdict, parties argued in court on 19 March, and judgement is reserved for 12 April.
I will report on the Auditor-General's report in my next letter after it is approved by council.
OTHER
Small Boat Harbour
In 2002, a Small Boat Harbour proposal was presented to Council and has not been dealt with properly. Council has requested the Acting Municipal Manager to inform the developer to immediately commence with the feasibility study, incorporated into an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process to conclude within the statutory time frame. It is council’s intent to bring the matter to conclusion, either by implementing it and progressing with applications and authorisation processes or by termination if needs be.
Airport
I am pleased to announce that at the 22 March Council Meeting, Council selected Indiza Airport Management, as the preferred bidder of the long-term lease, development and management of Plettenberg Bay Airport. Indiza Airport Management, a majority black-owned BEE-compliant company, operates three South African airports: Pietermaritzburg, Virginia Airport (Durban) and Richards Bay.
Indiza’s immediate priorities will be to:
- Establish operational services at the airport – security, airport rescue & fire fighting, fuel,and air traffic service
- Ensure infrastructure is compliant to CAA regulations
- Schedule flights (SA Express & SA Airlink have both expressed interest)
- Market the airport and establish support services, i.e. parking facilities, car rentals, etc.
Provided there are no hiccups, Indiza estimates they can have flights in place within 8 months!
A Public Participation will be scheduled to give the public a chance to comment on plans and conditional requirements attached to the contract. We will advertise date and venue as soon as possible.
Bids to upgrade and manage the airport were evaluated by transportation consultant Sarel Liebenberg and we appreciate all his valuable time and effort. This project is very important to Plett and we wanted to make sure we did it right. Thanks, Sarel!
Road repairs
A schedule for the maintenance or reseal of roads around the Bitou municipality area has been developed. Due to funding limitations, it cannot be done all in one year so a plan has been developed to do priority roads in this financial year and reseal the other roads in the next financial year. A plan to construct gravel roads from scratch has also been scheduled over a five year period, with approximately 5 km to be constructed per financial year.
Cleansing
Eden District Municipality has agreed to loan us Morton Hubbe,Chief District Waste Manager, to oversee the landfill site specifically, and refuse removal in general. Mr. Hubbe has agreed to assist us in evaluating our options and with instituting alternatives.
Tourism
In my eighth mayoral letter of 13 March, I want to make sure my comments were correctly understood. Tourism is a wide ranging field of activities, interest groups and beneficiaries, and as such, we want to engage with all individuals with an interest in tourism to better understand their needs and to provide them with opportunities to comment and give input in tourism operations.
To this end, Tourism Advisory Forum meetings are being held in April in various communities, and at the conclusion, the formation of an advisory committee which will function as an umbrella body, with equal representation by all the various interests of tourism in our town, will be represented. This body will include a representative from the restaurant association, retail businesses, wine industry, ocean/beach activities, accommodation, etc. All tourism-related associations, whether formal or informal, will be represented equally, and all stakeholders will be able to participate. I did not mean to imply that GAA will be the leader, but only mentioned them because they have an association already in place. Other groups should also form together and elect a representative. So please get involved, one and all.
Arson and Riots
On Saturday night, 18 February the Bitou municipal building was broken into by two men through a ground-floor window and the complex set alight. One office was totally destroyed before the flames were doused. Two men were arrested while leaving the burning building, one by security guards outside the complex and the other by police about 100 m away. A third man was arrested later in Qolweni.
Riots, arson and looting have persisted along the N2 over the past two months, and recently in Kranshoek and again this week in the industrial area. It is believed that the arson of the municipal building, the ongoing violence, looting and arson in the industrial area and the burning of tyres and rock-throwing on the N2 are all part of the ANC's “Operation Reclaim.” The ANC Southern Cape secretary denies the allegation, but the fact that a “front” styled the Justice and Equality Front, comprised of the ANC, the ANCYL and local attorney Gerhardus (Hardy) Mills, has employed the services of a high-priced Gauteng attorney to represent the arsonists indicates the opposite.
Hardy Mills and his JEF club say they are mediating a peaceful resolution, but riots, looting and arson continue. A meeting was arranged with Hardy Mills and the Bossieqif/Qolweni leaders for 27 March at the CDC Bike Shed, and Hardy had said they would bring resolutions and solutions, but no one turned up. The Industrial Area owners are reluctant to engage with looters and rioters, but their employees are fearful so we are all trying to find peaceful solutions. Unfortunately, the Bossieqif/Qolweni leaders are constantly changing so it is difficult to meet with them. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the protesters are a front for a criminal element whose interest is looting and robbing, not discussing service delivery. This violence is very detrimental to our tourism business and trust me, we are taking it very seriously and dealing with it.
Sorry this letter is so long but a lot has been happening in Bitou.
Thank you for your ongoing support and prayers.
Memory Booysen
Mayor of Plettenberg Bay
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Letter from the Mayor
09 November 2011
First and foremost our thanks to Jeremy Ord and his team from Dimension Data who paid us a preliminary visit on 26 September and then followed up with a 5 member working team who then did an initial evaluation over three days a week later. Even at this early stage it is clear that we have some very serious IT problems which require urgent attention. There is however also some good news in that some of the programmes are from reputable companies who can and will back up their products.
Letter from the Mayor
22 September 2011
Bitou Council’s first 100 days came up on Wednesday 14 September and it is timely that we stop and take stock of what we have achieved in these 100 days. Well, considering it took us 32 days to wrest control from the ANC, make that 68 days.
Letter from the Mayor
04 September 2011
I would like to thank everyone for your continued interest in Plettenberg Bay and your outpouring of support. People have asked me how Bitou could have received an Unqualified Audit Report from the Auditor-General for the last three years while apparently maladministration and mismanagement in Bitou were escalating.How was this possible? The section below may help to explain.
Letter from the Mayor
12 August 2011
Wow! What a response to my newsletter. I don't know how to even start thanking all those many, many people who have expressed their support and offered their skills and time to assist with the task of once again making Plettenberg Bay and the Bitou Municipality something to be proud of. Thanks everyone!
Letter from the Mayor
01 August 2011
In July I had the privilege of meeting with many of you during my five report-back meetings, but at the rate things are happening, we decided we need even more communication. Therefore we intend to write a regular newsletter to keep you informed of what is transpiring in the council and administration of Plett.
