The front-page article on the Municipal Manager’s appointment, the page 2 article on alleged fraud at the Daljosaphat Traffic Centre, and the editorial in Paarl Post of 19 May 2022 refer. These articles are not balanced, in that the editor selectively chooses which parts of the municipality’s side of the story are published, and simply ignores the facts that do not support their particular point of view.
Judge for yourself:
1. The truth is that there were no satisfactory applications except for the current City Manager.
It was not the Mayoral Committee that decided to appoint the City Manager for a five-year term. All 11 political parties voted to appoint the City Manager for a further five years because he was the best candidate.
2. The municipality in our comment has indicated that the full municipal council has authorised the Executive Mayor to institute legal action if required.
The editor either deliberately misleads the public by stating it is the “mayoral council” or simply does not verify the technical terms in her articles before she publishes them.
3. There was no rejection of any application by the National Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) before a waiver application was submitted.
4. The editor clearly puts more stock in unnamed “inside sources” than the facts provided by the Executive Mayor as she brushes off his objective facts as “claims”.
5. The article on the Traffic Centre downplays the comment that the municipality was working with the National Department of Home Affairs and the South African Police Service (Saps) to apprehend a foreign syndicate that was using false documentation, and this had nothing to do with alleged fraud at the Traffic Centre.
We take any allegations of fraud and corruption seriously, and we certainly hope that the editor has shared her information with Saps, since she has shown little interest in working with the municipality to investigate these allegations.
It is also untrue that members of the public have to wait for months for appointments for drivers’ (light vehicle) and learners’ licences.
The City Manager and leadership of Drakenstein Municipality, in an increasingly challenging environment for local government, have an excellent record of financial and corporate governance as well as service delivery.
