November 25’s council meeting was a wrap for 2015 and covered a wide array of topics ranging from Clover’s business expansion interests to a report from the Audit Committee.

Councillors were informed that a meeting with municipal and Clover’s representatives was held on November 17 when the company re-initiated their request to expand their business.

The design work is expected to commence in February next year and this initiative is said to create about 150 new jobs.
A report from the Audit Committee, represented by Mr LB van der Merwe, brought to councillor’s attention matters that needed to be addressed.

These included debtors, especially government departments that owed the municipality more than R18 million. Other topics included further investigation about the progress of litigation matters.

Also on the agenda was for councillors to advise on the appropriate steps to be taken following a forensic report received regarding Corporate Services Director Hans Chotoo.

The contents of the report were not made public. A step-by-step guide of the processes to be followed was listed, which indicates that a disciplinary hearing should be held within 60 days of the staff member’s suspension.

The Estcourt News is in possession of a ‘notice of intention to suspend document’, addressed to Mr Chotoo, informing him that the “municipality is considering suspending you with full pay as a precautionary measure pending an investigation…”

A list of seven allegations follow, which includes breach of the code of conduct, ‘incorrect contact’ with a contractor, which was ‘prejudicial to the municipality’, adjusting salary scale without proper procedure and demoting a senior manager in the protection services.

No indication of the proposed disciplinary hearing has been indicated.