The meeting of the municipal council of the Theewaterskloof Municipality (TWKM), which was held on Thursday 28 November, was a marathon session lasting more than seven hours.
On 6 November the Western Cape Provincial Executive Council resolved that TWKM be placed under a mandatory intervention in terms of Section 139 (5) (a) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
Steven Kenyon, Head: Municipal Finance Provincial Treasury, in his presentation to Council, introduced the process to prepare a Financial Recovery Plan (FRP). In his presentation Kenyon gave an overview of the background of the financial problems of TWKM, legal mandates for this intervention, summary of process to prepare this FRP, structure and content of the FRP and interim measure: Budget Funding Plan.
In a media statement the recently-elected Speaker of TWKM Councillor Weldon Wells said: “I am pleased to announce that the TWK Municipal Council pledged their support to the FRP being prepared in collaboration with National Treasury and the Provincial Government.
“This plan, which will be presented to council early next year, represents a significant step towards ensuring improved governance, financial sustainability and service delivery for the residents of Theewaterskloof.”
In his speech to Council the Speaker asked councillors to focus their attention to the Batho Pele principles for municipalities as contained in the handbook for councillors.
He also quoted some important rules out of the TWK councillors code of conduct.
In conclusion Wells said: “Let us respect one another and let us all help to turn this crisis we are in around.
“Please use this time to reflect on the past. What went wrong? How can we rectify it? How can we do better for the people of Theewaterskloof? We can only change this together.”
