The Knysna council has until Friday to appoint an acting municipal manager after the matter was withdrawn from Wednesday’s special council meeting.
This comes after the council had appointed Dawid Adonis as acting municipal manager for three months until the disciplinary proceedings of incumbent Dr Sitembele Vatala had been finalised.
However, Vatala resigned, with the council accepting his resignation on August 25.
Adonis’s acting term ends on Sunday.
The council has an option of keeping him at the helm for a further three months while the search for the accounting officer continues.
At a heated council meeting, Knysna ANC chief whip Claudine Croutz proposed that the item be withdrawn.
“I want to recommend speaker that we remove the item off the agenda and bring it back before the expiration date of the item,” she said.
ANC councillor Thando Matika seconded the removal.
The DA’s Levael Davis wanted to hear the reasons for the proposed withdrawal of the item from the agenda.
“The appointment of Mr Adonis terminates on September 12, which is on Sunday, we have very little time to deal with the matter again before that.
“To me, this matter must proceed and is a matter of urgency and we need to proceed.
Fellow DA councillor Sharon Sabbagh agreed.
“We have no time for this matter to be delayed.”
After a back-and-forth, the council adjourned with the parties caucusing.
After the adjournment, mayor Elrick van Aswegen of COPE said: “We are going to [be in] a legal situation if by Monday we do not appoint a municipal manager.
“I would like us to withdraw this item to a subsequent meeting not later than Friday.”
When the matter was put to a vote, 12 councillors voted for the item to be withdrawn while nine wanted it discussed on Wednesday.
In an interview, council speaker Mertle Gombo would not say when the council would reconvene.
“Remember, we can have the meeting any time between yesterday’s meeting and Sunday.
“For now, I can’t say whether it will be tomorrow and what time.
“We are in a mayco [mayoral committee meeting] and we will decide after that one when it will be,” she said.
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