Senza premises at centre of spat between Knysna political parties

The former Senza Restaurant premises at the Heads in Knysna has become a bone of contention again after Knysna Council agreed last week to lease the apartment at the site to Acting Municipal Manager Dr Louis Scheepers and spending tens of thousands of rand on renovations. Scheepers has one month left of his threemonth contract with the municipality as acting municipal manager. According to the agenda, the cost of the renovations, including labour, is estimated to amount to about R50 000. During the council meeting, DA councillor Michelle Wasserman said that spending that amount on fixing accommodation for a municipal manager who has only one month left is exorbitant and unrealistic. "Will it not be better for him to stay where he stayed in the past two months?” she asked. According to the council item, the property has been unoccupied since 2017, during which time it has been exposed to vandalism and theft.

Mayor Elrick van Aswegen in a statement said council resolved that the municipality would perform cosmetic upgrades to the apartment, which will be leased unfurnished to Scheepers at a market-related rental. "Aside from rendering the apartment habitable and capable of generating an income, it is important to maintain council property," he said. Knysna Independent Movement's Susan

Campbell said the decision is irrational and immoral. "Many Knysna families do not know where their next meal will come from. How can our politicians justify wasting R50 000 to renovate an apartment for our temporary MM, who earns more than R100 000 per month, when there are hundreds of apartments available for him to rent?" Van Aswegen said the municipality has a policy for accommodation and is within its rights to accommodate staff members.

"The decision was simple: that we have two vacant flats in Milkwood Drive in Old Place which is a threebedroom and would cost a lot of money to fix and the other one is the Senza Restaurant," he added.