Manager quitting ‘no shock’ to mayor
KNYSNA Mayor Mark Willemse says he was not shocked by the resignation of municipal manager Kam Chetty.
Announced on Friday, Chetty will leave the employ of the municipality at the end of next month, and the the municipality has assured residents that service delivery will continue unhampered and it will keep them informed of the process.
Chetty’s resignation more than a year after he was appointed came as the municipality faced a political storm following the ousting of former mayor Eleanore BouwSpies through a motion of no confidence.
It also came at a time when the DA wanted to remove Willemse, who was appointed following the ANC’s motion of no confidence in Bouw-Spies.
Chetty would not be drawn on the political infighting, saying his resignation was due to “personal reasons”.
“I resigned on Friday, and I am serving my notice period. It’s for personal reasons and I don’t want to disclose them,” he said.
Asked whether these included the political situation in Knysna, he said: “No. You know I am a professional, I don’t comment on politics.
“I am the administrator of the municipality, and as the accounting officer, I don’t get involved in politics. I have no idea who will be taking over. The council will have to decide on that. I don’t want to comment at this stage; rather speak to the executive mayor.”
Willemse, who is facing a DA disciplinary hearing, said: “I wouldn’t say it came as a shock. I know he has been under a bit of pressure, but we haven’t spoken about him leaving. I am not shocked by the resignation. People do what they need to do. If there is change that needs to happen, you have to embrace that.”
“I would hope this has no impact on service delivery. We have capable managers in place who need to run their departments, so I am very much hoping it will be business as usual. People need to do their jobs, and that’s what I expect of them,” he said.
Willemse added that they relied “heavily” on a municipal manager to be in control of the administration, “so, it’s one of those things that we have to deal with going forward”.
“We are very aligned on the expertise of a competent municipal manager. It does leave us with a glaring vacancy at this moment in time, but we have capable people who can act in that position and hopefully we can fill it as soon as possible,” Willemse said.
ANC chief whip in the Knysna Council Titi Gombo said: “We don’t have the details of the resignation letter, but we were informed on Friday. We were shocked, although we don’t know the reasons as yet. This will add to the situation facing the municipality.”
Post is crucial but service delivery will not be impeded, says Willemse