‘Toxic’ tide swamps Cape municipality

Acrimony and infighting within the Cape Agulhas municipality (CAM) in the Western Cape have reached such intensity that the council has been forced to hire an outside law firm to try to defuse the conflict.

Recent developments at the DA-run municipality include:

• findings of financial misconduct against senior managers;
• suspensions issued against two directors, two managers and three lower-ranking staff;
• threats of defamation actions;
• a sexual harassment complaint;
• a raft of grievance procedures; and
• attempts to evict an external consultant from the municipal offices in Bredasdorp.

Despite the wide scope of the issues, senior CAM officials told the Sunday Times this week the municipality’s main problem was in a single directorate, and they blamed the management style of the department head.

They did not name the department or its director, but it is clear from the context and circumstances that they were referring to Krishen Moodley, director of planning & community services. Moodley has effectively been suspended because 19 of her staff lodged a grievance against her.

The acting director of another department — who arrived two months ago to stand in for the second suspended CAM director — said the ructions in the department he singled out were “based on a person’s unique form of management that ruffled feathers and created a split in the directorate between staff”.

While the majority of officials have embraced this new culture and broken the cycle of inertia and complacency, a few continue to resist growth, change and accountability for the responsible use of public funds

—  Krishen Moodley, CAM

“There was a huge amount of favouritism … and that ruffled the feathers and created the conflict. There’s a split in the department and that is causing a huge amount of friction.”

But Moodley told the Sunday Times: “I categorically reject any implication of bias or improper conduct.” She said she had fostered “a culture of high performance, accountability and professionalism”.

“While the majority of officials have embraced this new culture and broken the cycle of inertia and complacency, a few continue to resist growth, change and accountability for the responsible use of public funds contributed by ratepayers and taxpayers.”

Moodley said the alleged favouritism was “the acknowledgement of individuals who have demonstrated commitment to higher performance, assumed additional responsibilities and actively contributed to enhancement campaigns and pilot projects under the turnaround strategy. Their recognition … simply reflects merit and dedication.

“Indeed, feathers are often ruffled when non-performance, complacency and non-conformance with principles of good governance are called out.”

The council told Moodley a week ago to stop coming to work because it intended to place her on precautionary suspension. She has submitted a defence against the planned suspension, and the council is due to make a decision by Tuesday.

The acting director himself is the target of a grievance lodged by staff in Moodley’s department, and was accused of sexual harassment last month by a woman who objected to his behaviour as chair of an unrelated grievance hearing. This hearing was convened because two colleagues had a spat over a parking space serving the municipal offices.

The acting director denied that his behaviour — placing a hand on the woman’s arm during a heated moment in the hearing — could be called sexual harassment and has threatened the woman with a defamation action “to protect my reputation”.

The people who signed the grievance against Moodley have also been threatened with defamation actions. Among the 19 is a manager who recently returned to work after 13 months on full pay on precautionary suspension – she was given a final written warning on four counts of insubordination.

Another, bigger group in Moodley’s department has signed a counter petition, “a motion of confidence”, supporting their boss and saying she had improved morale since she took over in May last year and was running a tight, efficient ship. These signatories said the problems in the department had been many years in the making.

The factionalism in the department took yet another turn this week when municipal law enforcement officers told a consultant, who has a 12-month “turnaround strategy” contract that runs until December, to vacate the room he is using in the CAM offices.

This is total victimisation. I have no bias, I’m here to execute on a contract … a council-mandated turnaround strategy [being implemented] because of toxicity and underperformance in [the department]

—  Service provider

“There’s just weird stuff going on in this municipality, it’s like totally illegal, totally out of sync … People are thinking they have absolute power,” the service provider told the Sunday Times.

He said as an external contractor he had no axe to grind but was being targeted because of his close working relationship with Moodley.

“This is total victimisation. I have no bias, I’m here to execute on a contract … a council-mandated turnaround strategy [being implemented] because of toxicity and underperformance in [the department].”

The toxicity he was hired to deal with had been building for about a decade, the service provider said.

Asked about the attempt to evict this person from the building, the CAM acting director said among other things, there were questions about the number of hours he had claimed to have worked. But the council accepted that something needed to be done to try to end the infighting in CAM, this official said.

On Wednesday it began the search for a law firm that would conduct an impartial assessment of the grievances, accusations and counter-accusations.

“Everything against anybody must be properly investigated because many people have been blaming each other to and fro. The grievances must be heard by people who can do it independently and not be biased at all.”

Moodley, however, told the Sunday Times the council was acting ultra vires — outside the law — in doing this. She said legislation provided for a “binding grievance mechanism”, and the council could not override this, “especially not by unilateral resolution, as it would violate the collective agreement and the Labour Relations Act”.

A separate issue hanging over CAM is the finding of a forensic investigation, completed earlier this year by Morar Inc, that a director-level manager and five lower-ranking staff were guilty of financial misconduct.

On July 28 the council, meeting behind closed doors, recommended unspecified “consequence management” against the six, and municipal officials told the Sunday Times the process of appointing a disciplinary panel had begun.