The National Council of Provinces has used its veto powers to prevent the Western Cape Provincial Government from placing Knysna Municipality under administration.

The NCOP convened a special sitting on Friday, 26 September, where the decision was made.

The MEC of Local Government, Anton Bredell, had announced his intention to dissolve the Municipal Council on 12 September.

But the move elicited strong pushback from councillors, who accused the DA of politicking.

The Mayor of the Municipality, Thando Matika, said the intervention represented executive overreach and abuse of process by the Western Cape provincial executive.

The Select Committee on Cooperative Governance visited Knysna this week to assess the matter and field input from various stakeholders.

Bredell denied that there was anything political about the intervention and that a dysfunctional council was contributing to the challenges the municipality faces.

He says following the NCOP’s decision to veto the intervention, he foresees a complete breakdown of service delivery.

“It is unfortunate that this decision was clearly made for political reasons as opposed to having been made based on all the evidence of the Municipality’s dysfunction. The decision of the NCOP has effectively put the Municipal Council back in charge of its own recovery and implementing support measures offered by the National and Provincial Government. Council’s track record has shown that it is unable to correct its self-inflicted governance failures, which is causing raw sewage to flow into streets, homes, and nearby waterways and the Knysna estuary, posing severe health and environmental risks.”

The MEC says the dissolution of the Municipal Council and vesting temporary authority in an impartial Administrator would have enabled the swift implementation of recovery strategies.

But as a result of this veto, the Provincial Government will not be able to utilise additional funding and resources that would have been permitted through a s139 Provincial Intervention to stabilise immediate operations and lay the groundwork for long-term governance improvements.

According to Bredell, the NCOP Select Committee has also found that Knysna Municipality did not fail to perform its constitutional duties. This is after they were provided ‘evidence’ by Councillors from Knysna Political Parties, Unions, external stakeholders and SALGA.

 “I’m sure that most residents would disagree with this finding, and I hope that the residents of Knysna will understand that the Provincial Government’s hands have now been tied. No intervention by the Provincial Government will be successful when the political parties making up the Knysna governing coalition, through the NCOP, effectively have a veto right.”