Last week 24 municipal councillors voted against the 10-year extension of contracts of four senior municipal officials, but the majority of the votes (34) were in favour of the extension.
A request was brought before council to approve the extension of the contracts of Chief Financial Officer Bradley Brown, Executive Directors Seraj Johaar (Corporate Services), Gerald Esau (Community Services) and Marius Wüst (Engineering Services).
The opposition parties who opposed the extension said they were not against extensions per se, but did not agree with extensions of 10 years.
The amended termination dates of contracts will then be as follows: Brown on 1 June 2040, Johaar on 1 May 2032, Esau on 1 December 2033 and Wüst on 1 September 2034.
The opposig councillors felt the jobs should be advertised again, and by extending the contracts for up to 10 years opportunities are taken away from younger generations.
Another councillor said most of these positions are filled by people not from Drakenstein and residents of Drakenstein should have an opportunity to apply.
According to the Mayor, Conrad Poole, the matter would not have been brought before council if it was not in line with the law.
The DA asked that the matter be voted on and 34 councillors voted in favour of the 10-year extension and three councillors abstained from voting.
According to a report given to councillors, the extension is given to ensure administrative stability and mitigate the risk of losing competent senior managers, so the City Manager decided to approach council to extend the contracts.
The report states municipal employment trends are moving towards longer contracts and even permanent appointments for CFOs and EDs.
It also states neighbouring municipalities such as Stellenbosch, Breede Valley, Swartland, George and Saldanha Bay offer permanent appointments.
It further states that a number of municipalities are advertising senior manager positions and that it is known that some of the municipality’s senior managers are applying for these positions and that this poses a risk to Drakenstein Municipality.
