Cape Town - The ANC has been accused of putting a “once-thriving“ Knysna municipality in disarray as a result of cadre deployment and the allocation of excessive performance bonuses.
DA constituency head, Knysna, Dion George said they were appalled by the outcomes of several items on the agenda of a special council meeting last week, where the ANC coalition "arbitrarily" appointed unqualified people to the positions of additional members to the audit committee.
"Not all successful applicants were contacted for interviews and the candidates who were interviewed are ANC cadres who do not comply with the standards set out in the Audit Committee Charter.”
But ANC provincial convenor Lerumo Kalako said the DA's version of a “thriving“ municipality was that which only serves the interest of the “rich and affluent lily white suburbs”.
George said the DA further requested that performance bonuses to officials who already earn more than or close to R1 million per year be reconsidered, but the ANC coalition "rejected their request and awarded bonuses of 9% to relevant officials. This amounts to an additional expenditure of R500 000 of taxpayer money per year”.
Kalako said: “DA MP Dion George alleges that the Knysna municipality was ‘thriving’ before the ANC led-coalition took over. What he is not saying is that the DA’s version of a ‘thriving’ municipality is that which only serves the interest of the rich and affluent lily white suburbs. He does not say that in fact the people of Knysna and other municipalities in the province have begun to see the DA for what it truly is.
“The DA recently lost one of its stronghold wards in Knysna which cemented the leadership of the ANC-led coalition. Their bitterness at the rejection they received from voters has made them hallucinate and start targeting innocent municipal officials who have been correctly appointed and are remunerated according to their conditions of employment like any others,” Kalako said.
Cape Times