A highly-inflated salary bill, an all-male executive, water issues and a dearth of service delivery.
These were the concerns raised by members of Parliament during its three-day visit to the beleaguered municipality of Kannaland this past week.
The portfolio committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, which started its visit by engaging the municipal stakeholders in a local church, didn't hold back and ripped into the incumbent mayor, who is a convicted child rapist, Jeffrey Donson and his newly-appointed acting municipal manager, Hendrik Barnard.
The DA’s Eleanore Rochelle Jacquelene Spies, said she was "genuinely concerned" at the municipality's wage bill.
The municipality’s annual budget showed that more than R83 million had been set aside for salaries for the 2022/2023 financial year.
"There's no correlation between the payroll of this municipality and how many people are actually in posts, and to me, that is a concern, a genuine concern, not a witch hunt, it's not politically aimed, it's a genuine concern," said Spies, adding that their salary bill was higher than the norm.
Donson, who only responded to questions in Afrikaans, said that 41% of their budget income goes toward salaries.
Donson receives a package of about R900 000 a year, while the municipal manager's annual remuneration package stood at R1.1m. A Kannaland councillor receives on average R320 000 per year.
The municipality has seven councillors, three from the Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa (Icosa), two from the ANC, one DA member and one Karoo Independence Party (KIP) member.
As of January 30, Kannaland only had R852 000 in their bank account. They owe Eskom, R33m and other creditors R65m.
The ANC's Xolani Nkuleko Msimango said he foresaw history repeating itself with the municipality being placed under administration if it continued in the same trajectory.
"This municipality is on its way back to administration ... Kannaland has been listed as one of the 65 municipalities that are dysfunctional in the country, the leaders here should ask themselves where are they taking this municipality," said Msimango.
Msimango also highlighted the poor service delivery and water issues plaguing the municipality and its four wards, Ladismith, Calitzdorp, Vanwyksdorp and Zoar.
But Donson was quick to blame former president Jacob Zuma.
“In 2016 we wrote a letter to Zuma asking assistance to build a dam from which there was a response from national, saying they will assist, but provincial said they didn’t want anything to do with such a project.
“It would have been built in Ladismith, we never would have had water problems,” Donson said.
Zuma’s spokesman, Mzwanele Manyi told Weekend Argus that Donson should follow up with the current administration.
“Zuma was the head of state, so any undertakings that would have been made, would have been made in his capacity as a head of state ... so if anyone has got any issue about any claimed promises made by Zuma or anything that has to do with Zuma while he was head of state, go to government of the day, the state is still there ... I’m sure the responsible minister will be able to respond to this,” said Manyi.
Donson also said that the ANC and DA governed the municipality for seven years and did "absolutely nothing".
"I wrote letters, asking for interventions, but no one answered me.
"You can't just blame me, this municipality has been a mess for years ... for that whole term it was under administration,“ he said.
Donson added: “I have been a councillor in this municipality for 29 years, I know what I am doing, I love Kannaland and I know Kannaland very well ... I work very hard, I am at work just after six in the morning ... I work for everyone in Kannaland, for the EFF, ANC and DA.”
Kannaland Municipality is no stranger to controversy, with no permanent municipal manager since the 2021 local government elections, as well as the revolving door that has become the mayor’s office.
ANC’s Cameron Dugmore said it was the DA which was failing Kannaland.
“(Anton) Bredell has been making promises for four years to support the municipality with infrastructure, financing. This has never happened,” he said.
“Bredell must match his words with concrete commitments to Kannaland. Administration is an option that must be considered if the situation doesn’t improve,” Dugmore said.
Last year Bredell, MEC for Local Government, Environmental Affairs MEC, said placing the municipality under administration would “only be implemented as a last resort” given that there was already a process under way to support it and turn things around.
Action Society’s Ian Cameron said Donson should tender his immediate resignation.
“The council is failing to eradicate the scourge of gender-based violence in our country. By allowing someone like Donson to serve in public office makes them complicit in what has become the biggest human rights violation of our time,” Cameron said.
Weekend Argus