The J.B. Marks Municipality appointed Cyril Henry as the acting municipal manager at Tuesday’s ordinary council meeting.
The local government is facing an uphill battle after receiving a disclaimer as an audit opinion and the departure of Dr Blaai-Mokgethi as the municipal manager (MM).
A packed gallery applauded the appointment of the sports, arts and culture manager who will be in the hot seat for three months until the advertising and appointment of the MM. The decision was taken in a closed session.
The J.B. Marks Municipality appointed Cyril Henry as the acting municipal manager at Tuesday’s ordinary council meeting.
The Freedom Front Plus’s Fanie du Toit congratulated the new acting MM. ‘We believe he will do his best. We will take his hand. The community has put trust in you…someone with integrity,’
The DA’s Chris Landberg says that, although they had never voted for Henry, they were Democrats and, therefore, they would support him. He added that R1.37 billion in unauthorised, irregular and fruitless expenditure needed to be investigated. He said the audit committee that the municipality has appointed would not be able to clear that in a few meetings.
He highlighted that about R45 million had already been lost in electricity and a further R17 million or so, in water. He urged the municipality to fix the water leaks in the city.
On the issue of the municipality selling erven, the DA’s Johan Zerwick highlighted that land should rather be made available for people living in squatter camps. ‘There are more than 20 000 people on the waiting list. We must better the lives of the poor people in our midst,’ he said.
On the item of congratulatory messages, the member of the mayoral committee for Finance, Kelvin Johnson congratulated the ANC on cutting ties with ‘the racist Israel’. He also strongly condemned the attack on the 5000 m athletics champion, Thabang Mosiako.
‘Cowards attacked our three athletes…this will severely impact on our sports tourism and our image as a sporting haven for international athletes. This was a brutal attack and, what is concerning, is that two white police officers also attacked the victims. We consider this racist.
‘We are saying hunt these perpetrators down and let them face the full might of the law.’ Johnson’s comments on Mosiako were heckled by some of the DA councillors who reminded him that he had only intended to voice a congratulatory message.
Later that day, the council also adopted an adjustment budget amounting to R243 329 334
