8/7/2019 Bolander 02 Feb 2011

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Norman McFarlane

Apublic meeting organised byThe Air That I BreatheFoundation (TATIB) with

the Stellenbosch city manager,David Daniels, to discuss the issueof spray drift stalled last Mondaymorning – when planning, propertyand integrated human settlementsdirector Basil Davidson, whodeputised for the city manager atshort notice, refused to proceedwith the meeting until members of the media had left the room.

The meeting took place at

11.30am Monday January 24 at themunicipality’s offices adjacent tothe town hall.

Two members of the media werepresent, a number of municipalofficials, and a number of membersof TATIB, led by Ian Odendaal. Jur-gen Schirmacher, a founding mem-ber of TATIB, and a well-knownenvironmental activist took part inthe meeting via Skype from Aus-tralia where he currently resides.

Mr Davidson, in his openingcomments welcomed the TATIB del-egation, and assured them that itwas in the municipality’s intereststo address the issues at handbecause “Stellenbosch has some of the most expensive real estate inthe country” and that this must be

protected.Mr Davidson unilaterally

assumed the chairperson of themeeting after an exchange with

Odendaal, in which he initiallyrefused to accept the agenda pro-posed beforehand by TATIB. “Let’ssee how things go,” he said.

He then asked all present tointroduce themselves and to statetheir interest in the proceedings,and once he realised the media waspresent, he refused to proceed.

Mr Odendaal and Mr Schirma-cher both challenged his decision,citing the need for transparency,but Mr Davidson insisted that it isthe policy of the municipality thatthe media are not permitted to bepresent in “planning meetings”

where matters of a “technicalnature” are discussed.

At one point he agreed toobserve the TATIB agenda, but onlyif the media left the meeting.

Mr Odendaal pointed out thatthe meeting was in fact a publicmeeting called at the request of TATIB, as a follow-up to a series of meetings last year with communityservices and public safety, the lastof which took place on May 25. Cer-tain undertakings had apparentlybeen made at those meetings, andTATIB wanted feedback on theprogress the municipality hasmade on those undertakings.

Mr Schirmacher said that in hisview the municipality “must havesomething to hide” if Mr Donald-

son insisted that the media leavethe meeting, but Mr Donaldson wasadamant.

When challenged by Bolander to

divulge who had ordered him toexclude the media, he said that it“wasn’t a person, but a municipalpolicy”. When asked to produce thewritten policy, he said “We’ll haveto get our hands on it then forwardit to you.”

He agreed that the minutes of the meeting could be made avail-able to the media, and also to themedia having free access to speakdirectly to the officials present atthe meeting, if the media had anyquestions about what is recorded inthe minutes, adding “That’s normalprocedure.” Both members of the

media then agreed to withdrawfrom the meeting, albeit it underprotest, to ensure that the meetingwas not postponed.

Bolander spoke to Mr Odendaalsubsequent to the meeting, and hesaid that the Mr Davidson hadstated that according to legal opin-ion, the issues of spray drift, chem-icals and concentrations used are anational competency, and thatTATIB should take the matter upwith the national department of agriculture.

Mr Odendaal referred Bolanderto a letter written by the LegalResources Centre in November 2009to both the CWDM and the Stellen-bosch Municipality, pointing outthe local authority’s constitutional

obligation in respect of ensuring aclean and safe environment for itscitizens.

CWDM responded to the letter

on January 29, 2010, acknowledgingthe constitutional obligation of thelocal authority to ensure a cleanand safe environment, insistingthat it (CWDM) as a district munic-ipality has no obligation in thisregard, but that StellenboschMunicipality as a local municipal-ity does, and that “The local munic-ipalities must adopt by-laws withregard to their constitutional func-tions.” To date, no such by-lawshave been enacted.

In the same letter, CWDM notedthat it had, in terms of its legal obli-

gations, commenced with theimplementation of a district airquality management plan, butaccording to Mr Odendaal, thatprocess is now stalled, and it has yetto be implemented with Stellen-bosch Municipality citing budget-ary constraints.

In a call to the office of city man-ager David Daniels on Mondayafternoon, Bolander was told thathe was unable to attend the meetingdue to a prior commitment toattend the monthly mayoral com-mittee meeting.

8 Wednesday February 2 2011Bolander Politics

HAVE YOUR SAY!

REPEAL OF OBSOLETE

PLANNING POLICIES

In updating its Land Use Management System and to streamline decision

making, the City of Cape Town has undertaken a planning policyrationalisation exercise and intends to repeal obsolete policies. Such policies

mostly deal with local area issues and have been superseded by newer

policies or are no longer relevant. The list of policies is available for perusalat your local district planning office, local library or nearest subcouncil

office, or alternatively at www.capetown.gov.za

Written comment may be submitted on or before 28 February 2011 tothe Manager: Development Policy, Processes and Legislation, Department

of Planning and Building Development Management in any of the

following ways:

• By post to P O Box 298, Cape Town 8000

• by hand to any subcouncil office, district planning office or the16th floor, Tower block, Civic Centre, Cape Town

• By fax to 021 425 4327

• By email to lums@capetown.gov.za

Further enquiries may be directed to your

nearest district planning office or

Gideon.Brand@capetown.gov.za

ACHMAT EBRAHIM

CITY MANAGER

Media ousted from Stellenbosch

municipality planning meeting

At the time of going to print, MrDaniels had not responded to aseries of questions emailed tohim by Bolander last Tuesdayafternoon at 2.40pm, apparentlydue to personal circumstances:●Were you invited to the meet-

ing, did you initially accept, andthen withdraw? If so, why did younot attend the meeting?● In your absence, was Basil

Davidson (planning, property andintegrated human settlementsdirector) granted any delegatedauthority, and if so what was thenature and extent of that dele-

gated authority?●With regard to Mr Davidson

ordering the media to leave: was

he carrying out your or somebodyelse’s instructions, and if sowhose?● Is there is a formal written

policy to exclude the media frommeetings of a “planning nature”,and could you please explain themotivation for such a policy?● If he was not carrying out

anybody’s explicit instructions,and there is no such official policy,did he act within his powers?● Did Mr Davidson have the

right to eject the media from themeeting, and do you support hisactions?

● If you support his actions,what does the Municipality haveto hide?

RESPONSE TIME (OUT)

PICTURE: CAROLYN FROST

■Harvest time: A tractor pulling a load of grapes heads along a Stellenbosch road towards Distell, acommon sight this time of year in the Boland.