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The Newcastle Municipality now faces a considerable legal bill and the return of a staff member. This follows the Municipality’s former Acting Municipal Manager and SED of Community Services, Vish Govender’s suspension on 31 March 2022 being overturned.
The suspension came after severe allegations were brought against Govender. However, finding the suspension unlawful, Govender took the matter to court.
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As result, on Friday, 6 May 2022, the Labour Court heard the matter and ordered that Govender be reinstated to his position of SED Community Services with immediate effect.
Furthermore, the court declared the suspension unlawful, and that Council is responsible for having to pay the legal costs. It is estimated that legal fees stand at R1 million.
The Newcastillian – Online News contacted Govender for comment. However, Govender noted that due to still being an employee of the Municipality, he could not provide an official comment.
However, Govender’s attorney Ravindra Maniklall of Ravindra Maniklall & Co Attorneys stated that he is pleased with the ruling. “The court’s judgment says it all, in that the Municipality’s decision was unlawful.”
Manager of the Newcastle Mayor’s Office, Melusi Ndima explained the reason an official comment could not be supplied currently was due to the issue still being finalised. This was after the Newcastle Municipality declined to provide an official comment.
“The matter is not yet complete, and the court findings still need to be studied by council.” Further stressing that the decision was still in the interim process.
While the matter concludes, tensions between Govender and the Municipality’s new leadership have been ongoing for a number of months.
In December 2021, Govender tendered his resignation as Acting Municipal Manager but later retracted his decision, stating at the time that he decided to retract his resignation and support the leadership of Newcastle Municipality.
Following his decision to withdraw his resignation, Govender said, “It is essential the community of Newcastle is put first and service delivery remains our key focus.”
However, in January 2022, Newcastle Deputy Mayor Musa Thwala explained that a special council meeting was set to be held on 26 January 2022, which would be focused on removing Govender as the Acting Municipal Manager.
At the time, Cllr Thwala explained that Govender held no respect for the Municipality’s leadership and was pushing his own political agenda.
Despite Cllr Thwala’s accusations against Govender, the former MM highlighted he could only work within a set boundary as stipulated by the law and that the Deputy Mayor was misguided.
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Now, as legal proceedings wined down, if the Newcastle Municipality finds that it has to fork out the exorbitant legal costs, the burden will allegedly fall on the ratepayers.
With the above in mind, what are your thoughts on all of this?
Share your views in the comment section below.
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My opinion is that Vish Govender excelled in the performance of his duties as acting Municipal Manager. Matters were attended to immediately and professionally. The current Council made a huge mistake in removing him from the post of acting Municipal Manager.
What’s the use of commenting when u don’t post our comments.
Good day Neil. I am the Managing Director of the Newcastillian – Online News. I am aware of your negative online activity, and I am politely telling you to now refrain. If you have a problem, you can contact me directly on 034 940 2433 and address your issues in a professional manner. If you are unable to manage yourself online, you will be blocked from our site. Regards, Rochelle Els
Interesting development, the heading initially led me to believe that he was to be reinstated to being an acting MM… in any case, it is challenging to work with senior municipality officers who still attempt to push party mandates. I feel he must decide whether to work to feed his family or to be divisive along party lines. Good luck to him.