Public barred as heavily guarded Sol Plaatje special council meeting collapses

SOL PLAATJE Municipality took keeping the public out of the gallery to a new level this week, when no one was permitted to enter the premises for the duration of a special council meeting convened to appoint an acting municipal manager.

All entrances, as well as the gallery and chambers, were heavily guarded by in-house security on February 18.

The council meeting collapsed when opposition members walked out.

Sol Plaatje Service Delivery Forum councillor Dennis Pienaar said he was frog-marched out of the chambers by security after being accused of being rowdy.

“I raised a point of order as to why the municipal manager, Thapelo Matlala, had not been notified of the meeting,” said Pienaar.

“The Speaker claimed that Matlala had not submitted an apology. However, when I contacted him, he informed me that he had no knowledge of the special council meeting.

“I intend to bring a motion of no confidence against the mayor and Speaker. They are acting without any council mandate when they are going back and forth to court on appeals that have no prospect of success. Illegal things were happening in council during the absence of the municipal manager.”

EFF councillor Poncho Mocwana added that they found Matlala in the corridors and brought him inside the chambers.

“We asked what happened to the municipal manager – if he was suspended, or if he had passed away?

“How can an acting municipal manager be appointed when there is a sitting municipal manager? The municipality must withdraw all their court appeals so that normality can return. This is not a playground – the obsession with power amounts to an abuse of office.”

Opposition parties walk out 

Absent ANC councillors had previously indicated that they would not attend council meetings where “illegal processes” were taking place.

This resulted in council not forming a quorum when opposition members left the chambers.

DA caucus leader Heintrich Pieterse said the DA led the opposition walk-out.

He stated that the municipality was being placed at financial risk by the court appeals.

“The ongoing political circus is unfolding at the direct expense of service delivery. Continued political interference is paralysing governance and preventing the municipal manager from performing his duties,” said Pieterse.

He added that the budget had to be tabled by next week and that critical grant funding was at risk of being forfeited due to underspending as a result of the “obstruction of a stable administration”.

FF+ councillor Johan Smit said their motion to deal with the status of the municipal manager, as well as the subsequent court battles, cost orders, and disregard of court judgments, was ignored on February 18.

“We have requested the MEC for Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs to intervene at Sol Plaatje.”

Public locked out 

Herbert Miller from the Justice4All Project stated that the public was denied access to a public institution that was not being held accountable on matters affecting the community.

“Party politics is compromising services. All we see is chaos while the public is suffering,” he said.

Boyce Makodi from the Kimberley Action Group (KAG) questioned the need for such stringent security and confidentiality measures.

“Illegal proceedings that are being pushed obviously need to be hidden from the public eye.”

He believed that the community were being pushed towards closing roads and burning tyres, and added that no forewarning would be given if a “shutdown” was implemented.

“Sol Plaatje Municipality is captured by the ANC, as councillors are expected to execute political mandates. The municipality must serve the people and not the ANC. We have yet to be provided with a breakdown of the R2.5 billion Budget Facility for Infrastructure fund.”

He advised that the majority of households would pay the basic and capacity electricity charge of roughly R300, over and above any units purchased.

Community members, during a meeting called by the KAG on February 15, urged for council to be dissolved.

Women Waging War Against GBVF, Poverty and Inequality convener Milly Wolfe said the community had fallen victim to factional battles at Sol Plaatje Municipality.

The CEO of the Northern Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nocci), Sharon Steyn, pointed out that the current state of dysfunction at Sol Plaatje Municipality had a severe impact on Kimberley's economy.

“This has resulted in several developments being diverted to surrounding towns and important economic role-players withdrawing investment in Kimberley. This is aggravating the already dire economic situation that Kimberley finds itself in,” she said. 

“Several attempts have been made over the past year to engage with political and other government role-players to address this situation and find a way forward, all to no avail.”

The ANC did not respond to media enquiries, while Sol Plaatje Municipality spokesperson Thabo Mothibi said the DFA was “malicious” and accused journalists of “partisan reporting”.

Notices issued to 5,900 households

Mothibi said notices were issued to 5,900 households consuming more than 400 kilowatt-hour (kWh) per month and at more than 20 amperes (amps), who would be liable to pay a basic and capacity charge.

“This is in line with the recommendation of the Cost of Supply Study developed by council and approved by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa). The approval of these tariffs is part of the approved current budget and followed Nersa processes.”

He said the affected households were identified based on their average consumption during the 2024/25 financial year.

“Indigent households will not be affected,” he added.