By the Knysna Bulldog
THE time has come to ask whether the people of Knysna are seeing the local equivalent
of State Capture.
Let’s look at the facts. Before the big Town Council upheaval in August last year the
old coalition council was running a deficit of R1.4m. Six months later, with the new
coalition in charge, the deficit is R39m.
How did this happen? Well spending increased and income decreased as the
municipality dragged its feet in collecting payments and debts.
During this time service delivery declined. The pot-hole patching appears to have
stopped and the municipal water supply is in deep trouble. The quality of the water has
further deteriorated to the point where it is brownish in colour and virtually
undrinkable.
Providing clean water is the most basic of the services municipalities were established
to provide, but many of them are failing. This is not an opinion. Last year the Minister
of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, told Parliament that many municipalities were
failing to provide access to water and that “the situation is generally deteriorating.”
He told Parliament his department was looking for ways to take municipalities to court
for failing to provide safe, reliable access to water.
Further proof, if this is needed, is the rise of the whole bottled water and JoJo plastic
water tank industry. These tanks are now becoming an essential purchase for
homeowners who can afford them. Others use the water shops or buy filters. Again, this
is not an opinion. We can all see it happening.
Against this background we must now ask how Knysna’s new council is trying to deal
with its R39m deficit. Well, it is slashing R23m from its budget for
technical/infrastructure services and related matters and another R2m from its provision
for posts in service delivery departments.
But the spending continues with a R7m provision for contracted services, mainly
security. There is also a R2m increase in corporate services spending to cover legal and
other costs. And that may explain why the purse strings have been loosened to provide
councillors with a slap-up lunch at their meeting last week.
In the last report of the Auditor General the Knysna Council was criticised for failing to
take reasonable steps to prevent the irregular expenditure of R67,7 m. That was the
work (or lack of it) by the council coalition before the coalition which reduced the
deficit to a mere R1.4m.
Is there anybody out there who believes the new coalition will not break the record for
irregular expenditure this year?