kougademocrat

In what can only be described as a bizarre Special Council meeting, no fewer than seven of only ten items from the agenda were withdrawn when the Kouga Council met in Jeffreys Bay on August 3.

Chimpie Cawood, the DA caucus leader in the Kouga.

Of particular concern to the DA, was the withdrawal of two items that were to deal with the illegal use of a Council vehicle and petrol card for a period of nearly eight months by the Speaker, councillor Magdalene Dhlomo, as well as the use of Council property, also by the Speaker.

However, after Dhlomo recused herself from the meeting, the chair was irregularly occupied by another ANC councillor, Vernon Stuurman.

Stuurman proclaimed that as there was no prepared written material to table and discuss the matter under the two items in question and abruptly adjourned the meeting. Both items were clearly indicated on the agenda in the confidential section.

“The DA stands for good governance and we will not tolerate the attempt by the ANC to sweep the concerns regarding Dhlomo under the carpet,” said the caucus leader of the DA in Kouga, Chimpie Cawood.

According to Cawood, he will insist that the mandatory Code of Conduct for Councillors, that states: “A councillor may not use, take, acquire or benefit from any property or asset owned, controlled or managed by the municipality to which that councillor has no right”, must be adhered to.

“We have had a response from the MEC of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Fikile Xasa, who has undertaken to investigate the matter of Dhlomo’s use of a council vehicle as a matter of urgency. We await the findings of this investigation,” said Cawood.

Source: News 24

The meeting of the Kouga Council last Friday eventually had to be adjourned after the ANC Councillors took an extended caucus and simply took their time to return to the Council chambers.

The most important items on the agenda were not discussed after the ANC withdrew the tabling of the draft Annual Report from the agenda.

The DA also objected to the tabling of the Gobodo Report, the KPMG Report and the report from the Public Protector as these items had not been handed to the Councillors prior to the meeting, according to the rules of the Kouga Council.

Councillor Nico Botha argued that it was impossible for the Council to properly apply their minds to the reports as they had never been handed out to the Councillors.

Earlier in the meeting, the Speaker of the Council Magdalena Dlhomo accused MP Elza Van Lingen of illegally recording the meeting.

When asked to supply proof of her allegation, the Speaker proceeded to lecture the members of the public that they will be removed from the Council Chambers if they record meetings, despite not producing any proof to back up her allegation.

ANC Councillor Vernon Stuurman also tabled a motion of exigency, in which he requested a investigation to conducted as he believed confidential information had been supplied to MP Van Lingen in February 2012.

The motion was then withdrawn and apparently the “investigation” will be an item on the agenda at the next Council meeting.

There will be a ordinary meeting today in Jeffreys Bay of the full Kouga Council.

The agenda of the meeting was once again received late by the DA Councillors, many of whom  were only given the draft Annual Report yesterday morning.

This document is one of the most important a Councillor will debate during the year and it is impossible to properly apply one’s mind when a 250 page document is supplied late.

In addition, other important documents have still not been received prior to the Council meeting, namely the long outstanding KPMG report, the Gobodo Report and the Public Protector Investigation. All these appear as items on the agenda, but no documentation has been included with the agenda.

The Kouga Democrat will report back on the Council meeting later today.