Knysna faces crisis: Mayor Matika's commitment to restore the town
Pothole-ridden streets, water woes, and sewage spills have become part of daily life in Knysna.
And although the Garden Route town often tops lists as one of SA’s best holiday destinations, the decay is impossible to ignore.
Knysna’s fall from grace has been so staggering that the Western Cape’s local government department moved to dissolve the council and place the municipality under administration.
But ANC mayor Thando Matika said his administration could still fix the town’s problems without provincial intervention.
Last Friday, it was announced that an administrator would be appointed on September 27, a move that would trigger fresh elections within 90 days to install new political leadership.
The decision comes after “repeated governance and service delivery failures in the municipality”, which have caused “severe harm” to residents.
Speaking to IOL, Matika said the Knysna council has resolved to challenge local government MEC Anton Bredell’s decision.
“We are in the process of obtaining legal advice on the most appropriate course of action and will make submissions to the National Council of Provinces within the prescribed 14 day period,” he said. “The way forward will depend on the outcome of this process.
“With respect to the reasons advanced by [Bredell], council has taken a different view.”
He said that while challenges in service delivery were acknowledged, he believes that they do not justify the “extreme measure of dissolution”.
“Instead, council continues to implement measures to stabilise governance and improve infrastructure delivery,” he said, saying Knysna has uninterrupted water supply.
“These include strengthening financial oversight, addressing operational inefficiencies, and accelerating service delivery interventions across all wards.
“We are committed to acting in the best interests of Knysna and its residents … we will continue to pursue all legal and procedural avenues to safeguard the municipality’s stability and ensure service delivery improvements.”
Matika said to date, council has:
- Established a fully-fledged management team between December 2024 and April 2025;
- Ensured stability of governance structures including council, Section 80 and 79 Committees, an audit committee and the risk management committee;
- Adopted a funded budget;
- Adopted a water services development plan;
- Adopted a consolidated action plan to address water and sanitation challenges, including lagoon pollution;
- Progressed work on a BFI application of approximately R2 billion to address infrastructure challenges;
- Improved the collection rate to approximately 94%;
- Strengthened community engagement, resulting in reduced public protests;
- Filled all council vacancies;
- Continued with the filling of critical staff vacancies;
- Implemented cost-containment measures to ensure effective, efficient, and economic use of resources;
- Secured positive developments on Section 154 support, with significant assistance from provincial and national government; and
- Procured new water pumps for the Knysna Water Treatment Works, with installations commencing shortly.
Bredell’s spokesperson Wouter Kriel said the department cannot comment on the mayor’s list until NCOP has made its decision.
The NCOP has 14 days to decide whether the intervention is valid.
If the NCOP approves, the intervention goes ahead and the municipality stays under administration but if it disapproves, the intervention falls away.
Some residents said Knysna’s neglect and decay was painful.
Once known for its beauty and tourism appeal, the town was plagued by water shortages, pothole-ridden streets, and sewage that spilled into places where children played.
The contrast was stark given the town’s long list of accolades.
Until 2024, it had won KFM’s Dorpie of the Year Awards three years in a row and according to a quick Google search had been named SA Town of the Year multiple times — in 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2008.
But local organisations said the Knysna’s decline could no longer be celebrated.
Recent water tests in the Knysna Estuary have highlighted serious pollution problems.
Results from August 13 showed the Salt River recreation point was dangerously contaminated, with a staggering 850 000 E. coli per 100ml — far above safe levels.
The Garden Route District Municipality said it was concerned about the non-compliant water status.
Hornlee, a community in Knysna, recently faced a severe water shortage.
According to the Knysna Plett-Herald, residents went without water for four straight days at the start of September, reportedly after a burst pipe.
The crisis quickly spread because Hornlee’s reservoirs are interconnected — one feeds into the other — leaving all areas linked to the main reservoir and pump line affected.
The paper also reported that the third pump for the Charlesford reservoir had been sitting unused at Knysna Armature Winders for over two years, reportedly due to non-payment.
Due to months of severe water shortages, Knysna municipality also declared a local state of emergency at a special council sitting on May 14.
Infrastructure, including the Charlesford and Homtini water pump stations, had suffered multiple failures, leaving large parts of the town without running water.
To manage the crisis, a Joint Operations Centre was set up.
Knysna United said the town was what it called in a shambolic state.
It said was supporting the actions taken.
“It’s long overdue,” the lobby group’s Rev Ralph Stander said. “All the problems, such as correction and maladministration, are endemic and there is no longer time for nicey-nicey. It’s no longer time to think with our hearts, like thinking about how nice the mayor is and the municipal manager who is trying his best.
“It’s now time to think with our minds and think about what’s best for Knysna. And what is best now is total change. Let’s put Knysna first.”
Stander said the water was allegedly off and sewage was “all over the community”.
“The sewage problem is endemic, affecting all areas, especially the formal and informal settlements,” he said.
Stanedr said that sewage has become a “part of people’s daily lives”.
“The water is off, and the potholes are everywhere … you have to drive as if you’re navigating anywhere in Africa, weaving across the road to avoid the potholes. It’s really bad.
“Contractors and SMMEs don’t have any work … those who do have contracts aren’t getting paid. The list of problems just goes on and on.”
The People’s Movement for Change said it also welcomed the decision to place the municipality under administration.
“This intervention is a necessary step to protect residents and restore basic services after years of systemic failures,” the party’s national coordinator Zandre Allen said.
“For too long the people of Knysna have suffered from chronic service-delivery breakdowns: repeated sewage spills, ongoing water cuts, collapsing infrastructure and other failures that undermine health, livelihoods and local tourism,” said Allen.
“The provincial government’s notice of intention and the subsequent placement under administration cite these governance and service-delivery concerns as the core reasons for intervention.”
The ANC in the Western Cape, meanwhile, said the decision was “informed by [the DA’s] narrow party political interests”.
It said it was not the interest of the Knysna community as a whole.
“The only conclusion to draw is that Bredell and the DA cannot stomach the fact that the ANC-led coalition council has started to turn the municipality around,” the party said.
“Secondly, they cannot stomach the fact that the business community is supporting the mayor in his efforts to ensure that section 154 plan is a success.
“We are acutely aware of the challenges faced by the Knysna municipality.
“This is exactly why the national and provincial government initiated a section 154 support strategy towards the end of 2023.”
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