Two important posts to be filled soon?

- Linda Jaquet -

Prince Albert should have a new Municipal Manager in the next month. This is the aim of Dawid Rossouw, who has been Acting Municipal Manager since March last year. Rossouw, a former Mayor of Prince Albert, was persuaded out of retirement specifically to manage the process of appointing the most senior official in the Municipality. At that time, the Municipal Council assured Rossouw that his services would be needed for only two months.

However, the town’s hung Council disagreed over the appointment of a candidate from a short list of applicants, following a rigorous selection process conducted by an independent consultant. As a result, the position was advertised again towards the latter part of last year. It is understood that eighteen people applied for the post, among them Newton Wicomb, a former Municipal Manager, who resigned the position in August 2007 after his suspension by the Council for non-performance.

The Municipality also advertised the post of Community Services Manager for a second time late last year. The post has been vacant since the resignation of Edwin September less than a year ago. At the time, September was due to appear before a disciplinary hearing convened by the Council.

The Municipality received thirteen applications for the position, which it also hopes too to fill in the near future. In the meantime, in the middle of December last year the Council appointed September as Acting Community Services Manager, apparently to deal with a backlog at the Municipality. The Friend believes that September has also applied for his former position at the Municipality.

A seven-member panel comprising officials from the Department of Local Government, the Central Karoo District Municipality and the City of Cape Town, as well as two Prince Albert Councillors, were due to assess the short-listed candidates for both vacant positions and make their recommendations to the Council during January