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by
05 February 2010
Sheryl Cwele
On the one hand, the South Coast Fever was fully justified last week to question the statement of the Hibiscus Coast Municipality which implied that Director Sheryl Cwele’s leave situation was normal. She has a history of being either on sick leave or on annual leave, or not in her office without leave. This is not a rumour, it is common knowledge.
However, on the other hand, now that she has been arrested and is awaiting the outcome of her bail application, other factors, have kicked in, and the Municipal Manager will have to be extremely careful how he manages the situation. At the moment her leave has been exhausted, and she is on unpaid leave. The Fever has established that if the HCM should decide to suspend her now, in terms of the labour laws it should be on full pay, which of course will cost the ratepayers money.
While following due processes, there is a very fine line the Municipal Manager will have to tread between limiting political damage and following the due processes of law, and limiting the cost of the exercise to the Hibiscus Coast Municipality and its rate payers.
This is not your run-of-the-mill case. After all, she is the wife of a respected and well-liked cabinet minister, who hails from this area, and powerful political forces must be at work. Therefore the HCM Manager, in all fairness, should be given the opportunity to manage the situation as requested by the HCM Exco, and final judgement postponed until the whole process has taken its course.
In the interim, it’s time that the ruling party issues a statement at a very senior level, because the silence from that direction has been deafening. |
