Cape Town – The Theewaterskloof Municipality has “missed an opportunity for a young woman to lead a government entity” after the appointment of a new municipal manager.
So said the region’s opposition after the DA’s Daniel Lubbe was appointed over Dr Vuyiwe Tsako.
The previous municipal manager, Gerrit Matthyse, resigned in April 2020 and the municipality’s chief financial officer, Davy Louw, held the acting municipal manager position until Lubbe’s appointment.
ANC regional secretary Derick Appel said they also disputed whether the decision was made following the correct procedures.
“The assessments and the test come out that this lady is the best suitable candidate to be the municipal manager. Whether it was a legitimate council meeting or not, the chief whip will be writing a letter asking for the recordings of that meeting.
’’They (DA) need to prove that it was a legitimate meeting. The main issue for us was to empower women. This was the opportunity for the DA not to experiment with somebody, but to have a young woman to lead a government entity,” he said.
ANC chief whip Raymond Nomgxaza said Lubbe was “incompetent” and a “party loyalist”.
He said the virtual meeting where the DA resolved to support Lubbe’s candidature took place last month, and he was removed from the meeting before they were due to vote.
“The speaker suspended the meeting and instructed the acting municipal manager to remove me from the meeting. Later councillor November asked them ‘What is happening, is the meeting suspended?’ They did not answer.
’’We also believe that the majority of DA members did not continue being part of the meeting and therefore there could not have been a quorum. This appointment is illegal and discriminatory. We plan to stop it,” he said.
Both Lubbe and Tsako could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Theewaterskloof municipal spokesperson Hugo Geldenhuys defended the appointment, saying Lubbe was appointed after a “thorough and transparent” process.
“The process of appointing the municipal manager was done in accordance with relevant legislation, requirements, policies and practises. The outcome of the process resulted in the appointment of the municipal manager,” he said.
DA East Region chairperson Tertius Simmers said the allegations made by the ANC were not backed by the municipal administration and documentation.
“Mister Lubbe was appointed after a process that complied with the relevant legislation, requirements, policies and practises. The process was transparent, and based on the interviews, tests and other criteria Mister Lubbe was the best applicant.
’’The Theewaterskloof council duly appointed Mister Lubbe at a meeting with the required quorum,” Simmers said.
Cape Times