Cape Town - Premier Helen Zille and her cabinet have given the go-ahead for the embattled Oudtshoorn municipality to be placed under administration.
In a one-line response, Zille said: “The decision was taken after individual consultation with each cabinet member.”
And the premier made it clear that provincial government was in favour of administration .
“We are supporting it,” she said.
With the provincial cabinet rubber stamping the municipality’s request, it effectively means the beleaguered local government is now under administration.
The provincial cabinet’s decision will now be sent to the national Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister, Pravin Gordhan, as well as the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) for approval.
Gordhan, who has been actively involved in Oudtshoorn’s affairs, has 28 days to rubber stamp the decision while the NCOP, by law, has 180 days to do the same.
The latest developments in Oudtshoorn comes after the municipal council passed a resolution during a special council meeting held in the Klein Karoo town on Tuesday, accepting provincial government intervention in terms of section 139(1) of the constitution, which will see the municipality being placed under administration.
The DA majority in the town’s council voted in favour of administration while 10 ANC councillors and one Icosa councillor voted against the move, with Cope and the NPP abstaining.
The municipality is said to have asked the national and provincial governments to bring in a civil engineer, a chief financial officer and a local government legal expert to assist with the administration.
While the local government department shies away from speculating on what the administrative process will entail, spokesman James-Brent Styan indicated that the department had a team of experts working with the provincial department of finance to assess the situation in Oudtshoorn.
However, in most cases where 139(1)(b) intervention was required, it usually meant the deployment of an administrator who takes over the affairs of the municipality.
The legislation provides for general intervention in instances where a municipality fails to fulfil an executive obligation; and the provincial executive usually appoints a representative to assume the authority over the entire municipal administration.
On Wednesday local Government MEC Anton Bredell said he was confident that they have the right team and expertise to address the shortcomings within the municipality.
Cape Argus