GEORGE NEWS - The shock resignation of Acting Municipal Manager Dawie Adonis on Monday came with a highly controversial letter to George Mayor Jackie von Brandis with the entire George Council copied in the mail.

Not only has Adonis resigned as acting MM; he also stated clearly his withdrawal as candidate from the recruitment and selection of the vacant municipal manager position. The reason for this, he said, is because he believes the selection process to be compromised.

Adonis alleges that there was a deliberate attempt from the selection committee to manipulate the interview and presentation scores to yield a positive outcome for a favoured candidate.

He further said social media reports before the process started were concerning, and showed the perception of bias towards a certain candidate on the shortlist. 

Adonis said a week before the selection report came out, a member of the public informed him that the hierarchy of the interview scoring favoured the biased candidate. 

Furthermore, he was told by a source that one of the panel members was requested to adjust the points accordingly. 

Apparently the person said he could not do it, but according to Adonis this is further proof that the selection process is flawed.

Expensive exercise

The cost to advertise the vacancy and pay consultants is just under R100 000. Adonis said any cost based on a flawed process will be deemed as fruitless and wasteful. He said it is his duty as accounting officer to report blatant irregularities and requests the speaker and council to do a thorough investigation into the selection process of the municipal manager.

A request for comment was sent to George Municipality, but comment was declined. An "ongoing HR process" was given as reason for not being able to comment.

Further enquiries were sent to the DA's provincial leader, Tertuis Simmers, and their East Region chairperson, Venolea Fortuin. Fortuin too referred to an ongoing HR process on municipal level as the reason why she can't comment. She referred George Herald back to the mayor for feedback.

Revelations not surprising

Provincial leader of the FF Plus Adv Gert van Niekerk said they're very surprised to learn of Adonis' sudden resignation. "The revelations in his letter of resignation to the executive mayor are shocking, although not surprising for the FF Plus," said Van Niekerk.

He said the FF Plus can confirm that allegations of prejudice towards a specific preferred person, similar to that which Adonis refers to, have already appeared on social media.

According to Van Niekerk, these allegations have been brought to the attention of the speaker before the start of the selection process.

"The FF Plus trusts that these allegations will be treated seriously and that an independent investigation will be conducted," he said.

"These allegations are really a slap in the face of the people of George who are entitled to processes that are above suspicion. We trust that the wasted costs that were allegedly incurred will also be properly investigated and those allegedly involved will be held fully accountable."

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