Many thanks to those of you who sent e-mails of support about the erf 431 situation. I’m afraid its not a situation I can resolve; I’m not even a rate payer. My role lies merely in bringing it to the attention of the public and Friends of Pledge in particular as it is a situation that impacts negatively on the Reserve, particularly on future development. The more serious issue that affects all ratepayers is what the Municipal files reflect - senior employees in the Corporate Division taking the law into their own hands and, for a whole year, sidestepping questions to either vindicate their actions or, if they are unable to do so, come clean.
The ball was passed to Ed Hill whose response is rejected for reasons outlined in my previous e-mail. He has now passed it back to where it should be, the court of the Municipal Corporate Division
Knysnarians can either ignore the fact that the absence of transparency in the Corporate Division and what appears to be collusion with a developer is a step towards a situation in which the Council degenerates into a group of people who meet and are paid millions of rands by the ratepayers while the real decision makers are a handful of people at the apex of an empire. Alternately, they can react to this situation by requesting the Municipal Manager, Mr Johnny Douglas, to provide an acceptable explanation for the disposal of erf 431 to a developer without public knowledge. Mr van Schalkway maintains that Municipal land does not have to be used for the purpose for which it is expropriated. No problem if there is public participation. On the other hand, to use public money to expropriate for public puposes then quietly dispose of it and not be able to account for the disposal some 10 years later, is not acceptable. In principle, you could well end up having your view of the lagoon blocked by a soccer stadium on land expropriated for a butterfly reserve!
Phrases like “…so what can you do?” and ” Its all over the country” are a cop-out, especially in a place like Knysna with its high proportion of educated and professional people. Friends of Pledge are not considered to be amongst the ostriches so please speak out. I’d like to receive your e-mails, and those of friends who believe in good, transparent governance, for forwarding to Mr Douglas.
Regards, Jill
