Bredell’s letter causes friction in Council
A letter from the DA’s provincial chairperson, Anton Bredell, in which he requests the George DA caucus to wait for permission from the DA Federal Executive Committee (Fedex) before appointing a director of Corporate Services, was widely circulated on social media and made its way to the George council meeting last Thursday, 31 May.
The letter was addressed to the acting mayor (Charlotte Clarke), the Speaker (Gerrit Pretorius), the DA chief whip (Marlene Barnardt) and the caucus chairperson (Vincentius Muller).
SAC councillor Bazil Petrus asked the Speaker Gerrit Pretorius to confirm the letter’s authenticity and to read the content to Council. In the letter Bredell reminds them that the appointments need to be signed off by Fedex. He asks on which grounds the DA caucus deviated from the selection committee’s recommendation and asks why the caucus changed the selection panel’s unanimous recommendation without taking it back to the selection panel.
According to the opposition, the panel suggested the appointment of Theo Roodman whilst the caucus had their minds set on Siphiwe James, the current acting director of Corporate Services.
Although the appointment of three directors for the vacant positions in the municipal departments Corporate Services, Planning and Development, and Electrotechnical Services, were on the agenda of the last council meeting, none of those items were discussed.
In a press conference with two opposition parties, PBI Councillor Virgill Gericke said with this letter Bredell dictates that they must totally ignore the process that was followed and that they should follow the instructions of the DA Fedex.
“It is aggravating that the MEC of local government, whose department is directly charged with the responsibility of local government, is now issuing a political statement on behalf of the DA, in contravention of the local government act. It is intrinsically corrupt when a party interferes with the administrative processes of government, undermining legislation that guides the appointment of directors and senior managers. Have the elected public representatives of the DA, the councillors, become stooges of the DA and forgotten about their mandate?”
ANC councillor Langa Langa asked that the requirements of the George Municipality regarding the employment equity that should depict the demographics of the city, be met. ANC Chief Whip Nomawethu Jantjies said, “We have a qualified black official who is currently acting in the position. He is very competent. There is no reason why he shouldn’t get the position.”