Knysna municipal manager Mapholoba suspended

KNYSNA - The suspension of municipal manager Dr Lulamile Mapholoba during a special council meeting on Friday, 6 February, has plunged the municipality into yet another crisis at a time when it is already grappling with serious service delivery failures, including a critical water situation.

Mapholoba’s suspension was officially announced by Knysna Municipality’s communications department in an emailed statement.

The announcement came on the same day that Western Cape MEC for Local Government, Anton Bredell, addressed the council.

The decision to suspend Mapholoba was taken during an “in committee” meeting, held away from public scrutiny.

According to the communications department, council resolved to place Mapholoba “on precautionary suspension, pending a disciplinary hearing.”

It is understood that one of the alleged charges relates to the municipality’s security tender.

In October last year, Knysna Independent Movement (KIM) councillor Susan Campbell who also chairs the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) called for a financial misconduct investigation during another in committee meeting.

KIM was subsequently sent a letter from Mapholoba’s lawyers, stating that a Facebook post by the party was “defamatory of him and damaging to his reputation.”

KIM responded on 15 November, stating: “We maintain our view that the allegations should have been referred to the disciplinary board to conduct a preliminary investigation, to determine whether or not the allegations are founded, and to make a recommendation to the council as to whether sufficient grounds exist to warrant a full investigation.

“As we stated in our previous post, this did not happen because the majority of council voted against it,” KIM said in its Facebook post.

In its statement, the municipality’s communications department said that “in order to protect the interests of both the council and Dr Mapholoba, no comment will be made on the merits of the case, as the matter is confidential.”

“No media queries will be entertained in this regard,” the statement added.

The municipality further confirmed that the Director of Strategic Services and Integrated Human Settlements, Dr Richard Martin, has been appointed as acting municipal manager “until further notice.”

Western Cape MEC Anton Bredell visited Knysna on Friday and addressed the council on the ongoing water crisis, also during an in committee session.

According to some councillors, Bredell left before the council began its discussion on the Mapholoba matter.

According to information received, Bredell expressed the Province’s frustration during his address, citing a lack of cooperation and progress by municipal officials in resolving the water crisis.

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