The Tulbagh Ward Councilor attempts to manipulate the Ward Committee Elecction process again in 2006. Letters to the Municipality elicits some response and that's all!
So once again, the Ratepaying residents are pushed aside and at the time of writing (16 November, 2006), there has been no action by the Municipality.
Correspondence in the matter is below for public consumption.
4 July, 2006 Letter to Municipal Manager
Dear Dana,
Tonight there was some message being announced on a loud hailer. I could not understand a word and couldn't hear the detail anyway. Then Dieter Haumann (a Tulbagh resident phoned to ask if I knew what it was about. I had to say that I didn't. So I asked Cnclr. Joubert to phone Cnclr Jooste, to ask here what it was all about. She was apparently announcing a 'Ward Committee' meeting' tomorrow night.
I suggested after to Dieter Haumann that I didn't consider 24 hrs notice through a 'garbled' loud hailer to be what I consider NOTICE of a meeting of the community to 'be informed of the process' prior to the Ward Committee being formed, or a Ward Committee meeting for that matter.
The first paragraph of the notice that was published in the last Witzenberg Herald regarding the establishment of Ward Committees and the process of informing the committee says it all as it is expected to be?
Is Cnclr. Jooste attempting to fill her Ward Committee up with Chris Hani residents and then 'invite two representatives each from the ' so called Whites and Coloured folk' - after the fact as she did before - so she cannot be suspended again for having failed to constitute her Ward Committees and keep them functioning as they should?
I wish to state clearly and for the record, that the 'broader Ratepaying community in Ward 11, for which Cnclr. Jooste is the Ward Councillor, will not tolerate being sidelined again by your Councillor. This community will not be prepared to be involved with Ward Committees that are a mere pretence either. Neither will this community be prepared to play 'political games' anymore.
If there is to be bad or inadequate service delivery, communication and a continuation of this apparent 'top down, arrogant, intransigent and autocratic form of governance', this municipality will be responsible for the effects of it's actions and I can assure you of a suitable reaction by those who are paying the salaries of your Councillors and officials in the near future.
It is high time that Council and all who are supposedly to be there for their community, realise the meaning of the words 'Civil Servant' and know who are paying their salaries and who they are ultimately accountable to.
This matter will be high on the agenda for discussion at the forthcoming committee meeting of TRIF on Thursday evening.
Sincerely,
John Veschini
Chairperson
TRIF
Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2006 8:03 PM
To: Dana du Plessis
Subject: Ward Committee Meeting Tulbagh 22 August 2006
The Speaker
Witzenberg Municipality
Dear Madam Speaker,
Tonight at 7pm was to have been an inaugural Ward Committee meeting at Witzenville.
There were at least 13 members of the Public in attendance.
Apparently, Cnclr Lizzie Jooste was there and then left at about 20 minutes past 7pm without explanation. Cnclr Joubert was also in attendance and witnessed this and then left at 19h25.
One wonders if she left the meeting to try to 'gather her flock' as apparently, her supporters were not too prevalent this time?
That meeting was advertised at considerable expense and the public were in attendance and therefore Councillor Jooste was obliged to conduct the meeting - on time.
I expect that this matter should be investigated and disciplinary action be taken against the responsible councillor? This councillor has a poor record already with these ward committees and it is no wonder that they never function properly.
Any belated meeting that she might of organised that led to the formation of a Ward Committee under these circumstances that may or may not be more representative of Councillor Jooste's supporters will not be supported by this organisation and we will take the necessary protest action and will object strongly. The new spirit of constructive engagement that we have witnessed recently, should not be allowed to be spoilt with that Councillor's political posturing.
Thanking you,
John Veschini
Chairperson
TRIF (Tulbagh Ratepayers / Inwoners Forum
Dana
The issues raised by Mr. Vescini which made reference to political posturing by Councillor Jooste, to gather her flock, and such matters, are not for me to respond to. I must however express appreciation for the remark in the e-mail about the new spirit of constructive engagement.
All ward committee meetings are chaired by the relevant ward councilor.
The election of members to the ward committee itself is conducted by an official of the Municipality, in yesterday’s case, by me.
The meeting started about 10 minutes after councilor Joubert left.
The meeting took place in a most constructive and positive spirit.
Proportional to the number of registered voters for both Tulbagh Town Hall and the Werkestoor, seven members were to have been elected at yesterday’s meeting.
The following people were elected:
- Kenneth Julius
- José Pedro
- Kanzi Buyisila
- Lettie Mentoor
- Patricia Lombard
- Z Phekula
The most remarkable thing that happened though was the decision of the meeting to reserve one seat on the ward committee for the community of Tulbagh Central (the White Community) as a sign that ward committees are also there to bring communities together. This, in my humble opinion, overshadows any negativity about the meeting there might have been towards the fact that the meeting did not start on time. This opportunity stands until the end of August 2006 and should the position not be filled by the time a general ward meeting takes place, the vacancy will be considered as an item on the agenda of that meeting.
Regards
Daniel Wildschutt
IDP Manager, Witzenberg Municipality
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 3:18 PM
To: Dana du Plessis; Daniël Wildschutt
Cc: Speaker; Regina September; Mayor; Marina du Toit; Deon Adams; André Muller; David Nasson
Subject: Re: Ward Committee Meeting Tulbagh 22 August 2006
Dear Daniel,
I thank you for your response.
My comments are as follows;
1. Yes, the 'constructive engagement' which prevails at this time must certainly be cherished and be worked at to ensure adequate community participation in the Local Government process.
2. The fact that you are reluctant to comment about the 'gathering of the flock' comment is neither here nor there. The fact is that the Councillor did abandon the meeting and did go and 'gather her flock' and therefore the outcome of the meeting was manipulated and surely not in terms of the Policy Guidelines and neither was it therefore a democratic process.
3. If your Councillor came back to the meeting ten minutes after Councillor Joubert left, then the meeting started 30 minutes late. That is unacceptable. The meeting should have commenced on time and the delegates elected from the initial gathering if they so qualified to be elected. That should
3. No mention is made on the aspects of the Policy guiding the process and what was NOT done in terms of the said policy.
4. No mention is made in respect of the fact that the election of members was undertaken without due regards to the fact that the advert spelled out where the meetings would be held and who would be eligible to vote at the respective meetings and who could be elected. Since this was your responsibility to ensure that the process was not abused, then with all due respect, you did not undertake your task according to the rules?
5. You talk about 'proportional to the number of voters in BOTH the Town Hall and the 'Werkerstoor'. So are you saying that you have 'lumped' the two stations together, without due regards to the democratic rights of the residents of the Ou Dorp and those voters who voted at the Town Hall. I made some notes about the results of the last local election results. They must have been very close to the actual results but I don't claim them to be.
What these results indicate to me, is that (all Approximate) the various voting stations came in with percentages of about the following;
Town Hall 23% of the vote
T&G 5.7%
De Argen 20.8%
Workshop 50%
Therefore, if you are talking about 'proportional', and it was your intention to get 10 members on the ward committee, then the makeup of such committee should be as follows;
Town Hall 2 committee members
T & G 1 member
De Argen 2 members
Work shop 5 members
Total 10 members
So, what we have now, is a committee of seven people now 'democratically elected', of which, one in the form of Kenneth Julius, was not eligible to be elected at that station and five others who all to my knowledge, all of your councillor's 'flock' and to the best of my knowledge, all ANC supporters and all elected out of the 'flock' of Jooste supporters, of which one may be a Smokkelaar' and some may be Municipal Community workers (on the Municipal payroll)?
6. What you may think is remarkable in respect of the 'decision' of the committee to reserve one seat for the community of 'Tulbagh central' (the so called White community) is to me and my membership, my community and for that matter my racial group, nothing short of an arrogant, patronising, insult and can hardly be conducive to bringing communities 'together'. In fact, this extreme arrogance, manipulation and condescending behaviour, is what maintains the polarisation of our community - exactly the opposite to what you believe.
I reiterate, what I wrote in my last email in the following two paragraphs;
a) TRIF does not accept the outcome of what transpired this evening. We believe that the decisions of this meeting and the election of office bearers must be set aside and declared unlawful. A repeat of this meeting should be advertised for not less than fourteen days hence and Councillor Jooste should pay the costs thereof. In fact, we submit that unless the community participation is undertaken equitably to gain representation across the voter spectrum and in each area and at each polling station, the whole process should be declared invalid.
b) Unless we receive a satisfactory resolution to this problem, I will seek the support of the members of my committee to take appropriate action to protect their interests and this may well include a Rates boycott) and to ensure that our members and the members of the community in the Ou Dorp and surrounding areas have adequate representation on this Ward Committee. Racial and political reservations for 'a White', is totally unacceptable to me or my membership and neither will a committee weighted in favour of any political party, or a certain segment of non-ratepaying members be acceptable.
In addition, a Ward Committee meeting must be held for the voters of the 'Central Tulbagh area (Town Hall voting station). to elect their representatives - be they Brown, White, or Black. We expect the component of the Ward Committee to reflect nothing short of the above percentages, the results to not have been 'manipulated', the public not to have been intimidated, or be not of any ONE political persuasion only, be truly democratically elected at the various meetings in the various venues for the various voters of those areas, in structured meetings that are held on time and nothing more or less.
John Veschini
Chairperson
TRIF