DA-led Mossel Bay municipal manager placed on special leave
THE ANC in Mossel Bay has called on the DA to answer to victims of sexual harassment in municipalities and the province following another “major sex scandal” to rock the party.
“The second major sex scandal in a week has shaken the DA to its core,” ANC Mossel Bay head Cameron Dugmore said.
He said it was recently acknowledged – after weeks of denials – that a senior provincial Transport Management official was being investigated for among others, sexual harassment and committing a sexual act against a subordinate.
“In the latest incident, Mossel Bay municipal manager Thys Giliomee has been suspended with the intention to dismiss him after an internal investigation found that he sexually harassed a junior employee,” Dugmore said.
“His suspension was also kept secret and only revealed at a special council meeting on Thursday.
“This is a big blow for the self-proclaimed guardian of liberal values, the DA, shortly before the local government elections, that pretends the DA runs superior, clean administration with Mossel Bay as its flagship of how a municipality should serve its residents,” said Dugmore.
Last week the Mossel Bay municipality said Giliomee was placed on special leave pending an investigation into the alleged misconduct and he had seven days to make representations why he should not be suspended.
The DA head in Mossel Bay, Jaco Londt, said: “The individual in Mossel Bay is not a DA employee. If you are referring about a municipal employee there are some questions I can answer and some not, since there is an ongoing municipal process according to the Systems Act and disciplinary code for senior managers.”
Londt forwarded the municipality statement relating to the matter in response to enquiries.
Enquiries to Giliomee had not been answered by deadline.
After Giliomee's suspension, the Mossel Bay municipality issued a statement:
“During a special council meeting held on April 29, 2021, the municipal manager, advocate Thys Giliomee, was placed on special leave pending an investigation into alleged misconduct.
opted not to take the jab.
In a response to the legislature, Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo said that, as at June 1, 483 559 people were registered for vaccination – 163 010 as health workers and 320 504 as over-60s.
In total, 158 154 people have been vaccinated, of whom 94 923 were health workers.
“All health-care workers have not yet been vaccinated. The number of health workers in the private sector is uncertain.
“A significant number of people indicated that they were health workers when they were not.
“The result is that our registration data for health workers has been impacted,” Mbombo said.
“Some staff have exercised their right not to take the vaccine. This is not a compulsory vaccine,” she said.
Provincial health department spokesperson Mark van der Heever said that, to date, 94 923 health workers had been vaccinated against the projection of 137 000 workers in the province.
“The vaccination is voluntarily and no one can be forced to take it.
“We will only know the number of health workers who decided not to take the vaccine once we move from phase 1b, which is running parallel with phase 2,” he said.
Health workers register on the training database to receive training on becoming vaccinators and this is also a voluntary process, Van der Heever said.
“The issue of those who misrepresented themselves as health workers is being looked into from a national point as the EVDS (electronic vaccination data system) is a national central system,” he said.