SACP accuses DA in Western Cape of interference in Knysna municipality issues

The SACP has accused the Western Cape government of interference in Knysna local municipality as plans are afoot for the department of local government prepares to intervene in the embattled municipality.

Local government MEC Anton Bredell wants to implement Section 139 (1)(a) of the constitution which states that when a municipality cannot fulfil an executive obligation, the relevant provincial executive may intervene.

However, the SACP in the Lizo Nkonki district accused Bredell of interference, saying this was another attempt by the DA to retain power in the municipality which is governed by an ANC, EFF, PA and Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners (PBI) coalition.

SACP district secretary Langa Langa said the DA should take responsibility for the current issues faced by the municipality and residents as the coalition had inherited the problems from the DA.

“The party further views the DA’s intentions as an act of seeking a cheap political score, at the expense of the Knysna residents.

“The SACP therefore calls on the DA to rather embark on an honourable act and become part of seeking an amicable solution to the municipality’s [problems].

“The DA should take responsibility for being the initial cause of the municipality’s sorry state of affairs, as the current leadership and administration of the municipality was inherited from the DA’s administration atrocities.

“The SAPC is angered by the political games played by Anton Bredell and his cronies who are undermining the council’s decision on what best action must be taken to address the sorry state of affairs in Knysna, especially a further advice by both the national departments of co-operative governance & traditional affairs and water & sanitation.”

Langa said there was direct interference by Bredell and his administration in Knysna, especially “when there was already a team jointly established with Bredell’s office to oversee the turnaround strategy, as per the agreed terms of reference where his department is represented”.

In a letter to Knysna mayor Aubrey Tsengwa and speaker Mncedisi Skosana on April 16, the MEC accused the municipality of failing to fulfil certain obligations in terms of the constitution.

However, the DA constituency head in Knysna, Dion George, rubbished the SACP claims, saying they were not true as the Knysna municipality had started collapsing when the ANC-led coalition gained power. 

“The town was very firmly on track until the coalition of corruption brought a financial crisis; waste removal crisis; sewerage crisis and water supply crisis,” he said. 

Bredell said the Western Cape government had been working with the municipality to resolve its issues since 2018.

“It remains our hope that the Section 154 Support Plan implements the actions in the plan to be able to solve their challenges on their own as befitting of an independent sphere of government, which we will always respect,” Bredell said.

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