Pound stays closed in payment row

Nelson Mandela Bay municipality’s only animal pound will remain closed after the DA’s motion to have the city pay all money owed to the SPCA was shot down by councillors.

The motion by DA councillor Leander Kruger was dismissed on Tuesday after ANC, EFF and Patriotic Alliance councillors voted for it not to be debated.

The SPCA is owed about R161,000 by the municipality.

The Herald reported in October that the pound was facing closure, putting more than 160 animals’ fate in limbo.

The contract between the SPCA and the municipality lapsed in 2015 and, as an interim measure, the city had a month-to-month contract with the SPCA , which ended in June.

This forced SPCA district chair Deirdre Swift to close the stray animals pound while she struggles to pay wages to 14 staff.

The municipality later claimed the SPCA had not adhered to the amended service provider policy as it was not tax-registered.

In his motion, Kruger wrote that the coalition government’s failure to resolve the matter showed how uncaring it is.

“A range of options was available to the municipality to ensure there were measures in place before the contract and service agreement lapsed.

“What is lacking is the political will to solve this. Mayor [Mongameli] Bobani and his officials simply do not care,” Kruger wrote.

He moved that the money be paid within two weeks and that a new contract and service level agreement for the municipal pound be concluded within a month.

He asked that should the city not be able to draw up a new contract, the city manager sign a deviation to provide a temporary municipal pound.

The motion did not see the light of day as it was submitted in terms of rule 25 of the council rules of order, meaning councillors would have to vote on whether it must be debated.

Kruger will now table the motion at the next council meeting on January 25, he said.