O1B3F2E. DRAKENSTEIN+RETIREMENT 2001

MOMENTS IN OUR LIFE-1 2026-04-11

O1B3F2E. DRAKENSTEIN+RETIREMENT 2001

This is a precious and detailed record of a significant transitional period in my life and in the larger context of South African municipal history. My writing style balances the factual history of the Drakenstein amalgamation with personal observations about human dignity and integrity.

This is how I remember the following events:

INTRODUCTION: THE END OF AN ERA

The year 2001 not only ushered in a new millennium, but also a profound shift in the landscape of local government in South Africa. For me, it was a time of great adjustment - a time in which the established order and the calm, disciplined work ethic of Wellington had to make way for the larger, more turbulent reality of Drakenstein Municipality.

As someone who has believed all my life in thoroughness, numbers that work, and a "walking distance" proximity to my surroundings, this merger was more than just an administrative move; it was a test of character. In the pages that follow, I look back on that final chapter of my career - from the grey offices in Paarl to the quiet vineyard paths of the Perdeskoen where I finally found my peace.

THE DRAKENSTEIN YEARS AND HUMILITY

The description of the merger between Wellington and Paarl draws a clear contrast between the two administrations. The detail about the 6-digit Store account system of Wellington versus the inefficient system of Paarl is an excellent practical example of why good management matters. It also illustrates the frustration that comes with the loss of control and the rise of "cadre control" as described later.

Before 1990 there were over 1000 municipalities, which were reduced to 830 in 1993. After the 2011 municipal elections, the 830 municipalities nationwide were merged into just 278 municipalities. Paarl (112,045 in 2011), Wellington (55,543), Hermon, Mbekweni (30,875), Gouda (3,441), Simondium and Saron (7,843) were merged to form Drakenstein Municipality, with the headquarters in Paarl, which is by far the largest. The intention was that many of the services would now be managed from Paarl.

Wellington was a well-managed municipality, which was financially strong, with Hennie Barnard as Treasurer and Freddie van Rensburg as his deputy, who kept the books perfectly. Money was not wasted by any department and everyone had to justify all expenses before it was approved by Treasury and then by the Municipal Council. The City Clerk department was also expertly handled by Jacques Carstens.

The Paarl financial affairs in contrast were not well managed and they had poor control over expenses, so that Paarl's financial affairs were in the red. With the amalgamation, both municipalities' town clerks and treasurers had to apply for the positions, and Jacques Carstens and Hennie Barnard were appointed by the Municipal Council, which was a feather in the cap for Wellington. Under their control, Drakenstein's affairs were now managed much better, although there was opposition from the Paarl staff, who were used to their bosses' lax management.

At Wellington we had a simple 6-digit Store account number, which worked flawlessly. There was never any confusion or uncertainty where an item was, because the number indicated exactly where the store item could be found. In contrast, Paarl had an unnecessarily long account number that did not indicate where the item was - the storemen had to memorize where items were, and their stores were also more spread out.

Later we also discovered that there was a lot of theft taking place in the Paarl Store. As well as that staff were booking out parts for their own vehicles, and parts such as tyres or brakes were booked out for a specific municipal vehicle repeatedly in a short period of time - all because there was no proper control, something that never happened in Wellington.

Sometime in 2001 I was asked to move to Paarl's grey building, as they called the Municipal offices on Bergrivier Boulevard. One day I myself loaded my desk onto a municipal bakkie with a few of my other office items and drove to Paarl. Many of the Wellingtonians remained attached to Wellington, as did Freddie, but I felt that the move would have to happen at some point. Hennie Barnard, his secretary Elna Smit, and Jacques Carstens had already left for Paarl.

As one encounters municipal workers at home, mostly blue-collar people, one and all agreed that they were much happier in Wellington. Paarlites have always had the tendency to look down on Wellingtonians. My mother told me this when I was still young. During the first 10 years of their marriage she and Dad lived in Auret Street in Paarl when Dad was a mathematics teacher at Boishaai. The Paarlites who live above Main Street also look down on those who live below!

It's an old human trait, if nothing has become something, but it's an ugly trait nonetheless. The people I admire most are those who, despite having achieved much in life, still have their feet planted firmly on the ground.

LESSONS IN CHARACTER: THE "DOCTORS" OF STELLENBOSCH

The anecdotes about the people in Stellenbosch serve as a powerful moral compass. The contrast between the man who was proud of his "Doctor" title and the young man who blushes at his achievement, underlines my philosophy of life: "The true measure of a man is not what you have achieved in life, but how you handle your position."

Stellenbosch is a beautiful place, and there are many people who have achieved much in life. In the 8 years I worked there, I eventually learned to divide people into two groups: Those who have achieved a lot and imagine themselves to be very high - I despised them. Then there are people who have achieved just as much, but remain humble - I had the highest admiration for them.

I can remember two such people. In both cases, I happened to be in front at the cashiers’ desk in connection with program changes. Stellenbosch did not just pre-print “Mr/Mrs/Miss/Dr/Prof/Adv/His Honor” at the top of their bills. They had a title code, with values from 1 to 7, so that the correct title could be printed by the computer in front of your name. Once a small man came rushing in, red in the face, and he waved his municipal bill in front of the cashier: “Look here! Here it says I am a Mr.! I am a Doctor!”. I could have spit on the guy. He was probably a doctor in a particular potato disease, but he didn’t know anything about how to behave himself.

Another time when I was there, a young man came to register a change of address. He was with me in Bellerive and moved to a house in Onder-Papegaaiberg. So I just filled in the form for him. When I got to the title code, I said to him “But you’re a Doctor now, aren’t you?” Can you believe it, he blushed blood red!

Once the wife of a professor, who was busy with her M.A. degree on why Stellenbosch’s house prices are so exorbitantly high, needed data from the municipality’s Tax file, which I worked with. I helped her with that - we also drove to the University of Cape Town (Ikeys) once. She moved in high circles and spoke very comfortably to me, an ordinary clerk, about her life, without ever making me feel like she was looking down on me. I have the highest respect for such people.

Hennie Barnard, as was his custom in Wellington, also held a meeting with his senior staff in his office on Monday mornings in Drakenstein. I was there because I managed the Treasury's Municipal package, mainly the software. I had to maintain the package and set parameters, provide training and provide assistance when the staff experienced problems. In Wellington I was Head of the computer department, mainly of Treasury, but Paarl is much larger and has a larger computer department. Frans Theron was Head and all computer equipment came under him, so all printing such as municipal accounts was printed there. Software such as Word, Excel and Powerpoint and also packages from other departments were supported by them, as well as installation of hardware such as PCs and cabling.

During the time I was there, Drakenstein advertised for new municipal computer software. We received 3 quotations. I set up an Excel spreadsheet with a long list of features we were interested in, listed everyone’s answers side by side, and assigned points. It was a hefty 40-page document, with 3 totals at the bottom. It kept me busy for a long time, but it was right in my element - I like that kind of detailed work. It was presented to the Municipal Council and they approved the one I recommended. One of the council members said he had never seen anything like it.

THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION

The section on Isaac Kelley and the salary system reads almost like a political thriller. My action in using the "secret code" and exposing the risks of fraud during the Monday meeting testifies to my own professional integrity.

In the grey building I was given an office next to Isaac Kelley (not his real name), an intelligent, well-built young man, who had on his desk a struggle quote from Ahmed Kathrada, one of the leaders of the ANC during the years when the organisation was banned. Very challenging, so that no one could doubt where his sympathies lay. He was at that time the Head of Expenditure in Paarl, while I was the Head of Expenditure in Wellington. Paarl is about 5 times larger than Wellington, so I did not aspire to become the Head of Expenditure of Drakenstein.

All expenditure was done by cheque, so many cheques were printed daily. I gave the first signature and Isaac Kelley the second. The checks had to be sent out daily. It often happened that Isaac was not in his office when he had to sign the stack of checks, and I had to call him regularly, then he always said “I am in a meeting”. Then he would arrive after a while to sign the checks. I am not suspicious by nature and just believed that he was in meetings.

Jacques Carstens was not entitled to a certain allowance because of his position. Due to a clerk’s administrative error, that allowance was paid to him for one month and Jacques did not notice it. Isaac, because he had access to the Salary System, saw it and framed Jacques as if he had deliberately appropriated it for himself. Jacques refunded the amount to Drakenstein. Isaac said Jacques had committed fraud, because he had not refunded the tax portion. Jacques did not get it - it was included in the check to SARS. And Isaac knew it.

Isaac had Jacques prosecuted, and Jacques had to hire an advocate to defend him in court. Jacques then needed his salary file to give to his advocate to prepare his defense. Isaac refused to give it to him. He had the salary files on his laptop that he had with him - he could have easily given them to Jacques. Finally, he gave the information to Jacques the day before the trial. Isaac certainly had the help of legal experts in the government. After listening to the representations of both sides, the judge acquitted Jacques, but gave him a warning. And Jacques is a man who walks the straight path.

Alrico Viola had previously warned me against Isaac Kelley, but I didn’t really pay attention to it. But after his campaign against Jacques Carstens, I avoided him as much as possible and moved from my office next to his to a small interior office without a window.

Because of my position, I had access to the municipal Salary software package and I maintained the parameters, loaded new workers and removed those who had left. The consultant of the package told me that no head of the Salary department should ever have access to these parameters, because then it is very easy for him to commit fraud, such as hiring “ghost workers”. Drakenstein’s head of the Salary department and Isaac were great friends - I am sure that is where many of his so-called “meetings” were.

I was on holiday, and when I returned I could not enter the Salary package as usual. Fortunately, the consultant of the package initially gave me a secret code with which I could enter the system if I accidentally locked myself out. I used the code, and then saw that the head of the Salary department now had total access, something the consultant had warned me against.

I made printouts of all the relevant screens and made copies for all the members at Hennie Barnard’s Monday meeting. At the meeting I handed out the printouts and told everyone what had happened and what the consultant had explicitly said. Isaac got annoyed and said “Can’t we even trust each other anymore” - he said he would then take over control of the Salary package himself. That’s now making a wolf into a sheep herder…

The head of the engineering department told me one day afterwards that the SAMWU union wanted to get rid of me too, probably because I opposed Isaac’s lax management. At the end of February 2005, all the department heads were given a “golden handshake” by the Municipal Board, except for the head of the Library. I decided to also hand in my resignation, so I left at the same time as the heads.

Cavin was appointed Treasurer in Hennie Barnard’s place. Someone close to the matter told me that Isaac, who was the Head of Expenditure, with the cooperation of his friend, the Head of Salaries, submitted a claim for about R100,000 for overtime, to which he was not entitled. I do not know whether the Board approved the payment.

Shortly afterwards, Stellenbosch Municipality advertised for a municipal manager, and Isaac was appointed. After only a few months there, he left Stellenbosch under a cloud of suspicion. Surely he couldn’t fool all the councillors.

Then he applied at Oudtshoorn for municipal manager and got the job again. A few months later he left there too, again under suspicious circumstances. Next he surfaced in Cederberg District Municipality, again as municipal manager, where he was caught out after a few months due to fraud. Among other things, he illegally allocated a plot of land to himself. The case was in the newspapers.

A councillor asked how it was possible that they hadn’t checked his dubious history. That’s what happens when people are not appointed on merit, but on who you know. Surely he got jobs for which he wasn’t qualified every time because he had friends high up in government. Apparently he later went to the Eastern Cape, where an article with his photo was placed in a local newspaper due to similar activities. A jackal may change its hair, but not its cunning ways...

A comical aftermath of the “golden handshake” at Drakenstein was that Jan Coetzee, the head of the Electricity Department, was also dismissed in the same way. When the Council wanted to appoint their own candidate to the position, they found out that for that you need a so-called “electrical engineering ticket”, which is quite rare, because you have to be very well qualified. Jan was at that stage on a scale of R375,000 per year. When the Council was forced to ask him to stay, he said he would stay if they doubled his salary to R750,000 per year. Drakenstein had his services for R375,000 - then it cost them R750,000 per year, plus the “golden handshake”!

After getting rid of expert people, the Council introduced a new scale above the department heads, called Municipal Directors. These directors were cadres, in other words mostly people with strong political connections who came from the struggle years, who knew little or nothing about municipal affairs. In addition to being paid a fortune for basically no output, the municipality now also had to hire outside consultants at very high hourly rates, people who did know how to do the job.

I remember that after I retired, I went for a walk in the Perdeskoen every day. When I came into Mont Pellier Avenue one day, there were two workers standing dead still with their shovels about 35 meters above me on the corner of Mont Pellier Avenue and Armon Avenue. 15 meters below me, four workers were standing motionless on the corner of Alfons Street and Mont Pellier Avenue. I walked down Mont Pellier Avenue and about 100 meters further down under a tree two more workers were standing motionless. I ignored them and walked down to Blouvlei and into the Perdeskoen to Bernhard Behne's farm de Fortuin and then turned back home. I must have been gone for between 15 and 20 minutes. When I walked up Mont Pelllier Avenue, all 8 workers were still standing in exactly the same places. Only one of the four in Alfons Street was listlessly hoeing with his shovel at a patch of weeds on the tarmac. Then I realised that all eight were municipal workers, busy with their day's "work".

The private sector spends about 14% of their total costs on salaries. In comparison, the South African Public Service spent 41% of their total expenditure on employee-related costs in 2015/16, according to the Department of Statistics. This just shows how the government has driven up the State's salaries. Previously, the private sector paid higher salaries than the Public Service, because their staff delivered more. Now it is the other way around.

"HELLINGTON" AND "SMELLINGTON"

Wellington lies in a slight depression, which cuts it off from most of the southeast winds, and that is why it gets so hot. As someone here told me at the beginning “Wellington, Hellington”, where it can sometimes reach 45°C in the summer. And “Smellington”, because for years it stank like a sewage farm, when the Mossop Leather Tannery tannery was just outside Wellington. When the northwest wind blew, the stench would plague the whole town. One day I heard two tourists on bicycles say “This town has a serious sewerage problem”. I helped them out laughing. Fortunately, the tannery moved to Parow years later and the stench with them, to the relief of the whole town.

EXERCISE AND DISCIPLINE

In my days at Wellington Municipality I walked or cycled the 1.6 km to work in the mornings. As has been my habit over the years, I always looked for a place to stay within walking distance of my work - Bellerive in Stellenbosch (about 1 km), later 32 Sonop Street in Brackenfell (1 km), and 17 Mont Pellier Avenue in Wellington (1.6 km). I usually cut my time so finely that I had to hurry to get to work on time, so I got a good workout in the mornings. I never had thick legs and never had a flabby stomach.

I always had the habit of nodding my head to people who passed me. It's probably just something I grew up with in small towns, mostly in the Karoo. In the mornings it was nice and cool, but in the summer heat it wasn't so nice coming home, and I always walked under the shade of the trees as much as possible.

There were times in Wellington when I rode my bicycle, mostly downhill. Then I pedaled as hard as I could and shot over stop streets and the robot at our NG Moederkerk. I sometimes raced with Tannie Malan, when she arrived with me at the top of Genl. Hertzog Boulevard. I arrived at work in Pentz Street before her. The times I rode my bike, I pushed the bike in the afternoons where the hills were too steep - past the NG Mother Church, and up Stein Street and on to our house.

THE PERDESKOEN: A PATH OF SILENCE AND BEAUTY

My walks in the Perdeskoen area after my retirement form a peaceful reflection. The specific routes I describe - Bloublommetjieskloof and Olyfenbosch - document the natural beauty of the Hawequa Mountains.

After I retired at the end of February 2005, I went for a daily walk in the Perdeskoen to get my exercise. There were several routes. One was to walk in the vineyards of the farms, starting at Bernhard Behne's farm De Fontein and then past the big tree, where his parents Walther and Elize's ashes are buried, and further up the paths between the vineyards, past other farms until I was tired and came back along the Olyfenbosch road into the Perdeskoen and back home, where I went swimming in the months when it was not too cold.

Another route was up the Perdeskoen, turning right onto the Olyfenbosch road and up until the road splits. Then I could keep right onto the Olyfenbosch road, or turn left up to Bloublommetjieskloof's biodynamic farm, where they sell products that they make themselves. Waterkloof farm. Untether on Olive B&B. Kleine Bosch B&B. It is quite high up in the Hawequa mountains, with the planted pine forests above it and above that the du Toitskloof Pass.

Where I turned right into the Olyfenbosch road there are many small farms where people live their own lives in seclusion. Adriaan Joubert of Olyfenbosch has created a beautiful nature garden with masses of clivias under natural trees with irrigation for everything. Adriaan came to an untimely end a few years ago when he fell from a ladder and broke his neck. Past Beulah's Christian Retreat, for people for whom life has become too much. There are many places along the Kleinbosch Mountain Road. Mooi Bly Cottages. De Kleine Bos B&B. Eventually it joins Bo-Daljosaphat road, which joins Piet Retief Street, on the way to Paarl. I think if one really wants to explore all the paths, you will have to drive many kilometers. Today, however, much of it is closed behind security gates, mainly to keep out thieves.

If you drive past the Olyfenbosch road turnoff, there are now several red-roofed houses on the hill, where for years there was only a large red-roofed barn where they did mobile bottling. That piece of land apparently falls outside the municipal area and the houses are probably free from municipal services and expenses. Next door is a farm with an old Cape Dutch house under the shade of large oak trees, where an old uncle and his wife lived for many years, before he died and she had to go to a nursing home.

In front of the house, across the Perdeskoen road, he had a small patch of hanepoot grapes, from which he made raisins. My son Christiaan and his bosom friend Pierre ventured there one day and picked their backpacks full. The farmer who farmed for the old uncle caught them and I got a call from him saying that I should come and see him. When I got there, the two boys were standing there, shame faced, with the evidence of the theft in their backpacks. The farmer, who sells vegetables and fruit every Saturday in front of the NG Church Hall, said that the old man was cherishing the patch of grapes. We gave the boys a proper scrubbing, they returned the grapes and I took them back home. At home, Christiaan said with a smile that there were still grapes in his bag! No regrets.

The Spruit River runs right next to the farm. In the past, our family often sat down there on smooth stones under the bridge after a 3 km hike and enjoyed our sandwiches and cool drinks. It is a small stream of clear water in the summer, but can become a river full of brown water in the winter after heavy rain.

Just after the Spruit River there is a second turn off to the right uphill past the van der Merwes farm - we called it the pig farm, because the pig pens were on the left on the corner. Up that road there are also several small farms and people who live there in nature rather than in town. One day in 2006, just before I had a mental breakdown, I walked up there with Marinus as high as the road goes, and talked to him for a long time.

The third road from the Perdeskoenpad starts just past the Hildebrand Wine & Olive Estate (formerly Klein Rhebokskloof), on the Welgegund road. It ends at the farm of the DA member of parliament, Sheila Camerer, who was later appointed Ambassador to Bulgaria. From there, Christiaan, Marinus and I walked far uphill one day, through bushes and branches, because most of the time there are no paths. The field is very rough, much more than it appears from the Perdeskoen, and the branches scratched our bare legs badly. We wanted to walk to where the cliffs begin, but it was much further from the road than we thought. Then we turned right parallel to the cliffs, because it was getting late.

It was quite a distance until we came to a farm. The farmer said we were trespassing and loaded us onto his bakkie to take us to the boundary of his farm. Along the road he drove under low-hanging branches and I ducked just in time otherwise the branches would have knocked me from the bakkie. He dropped us off at the Little Farm road, which leads into the Olyfenbosch road. It was an exhausting day, but we all enjoyed it very much. Good memories.

I rarely walked the whole Perdeskoen (8 km), because the part back from the Blouvlei Primary School is not a nice stretch of road. I mostly turned around at the bridge just after Hildebrand Wine & Olive Estate, then I walk the most beautiful part of the Perdeskoen twice and the total distance is also about 8 km. And I cut out the steep hill of Genl. Hertzog Boulevard on the way back.

CONCLUSION: THE MEASURE OF A MAN

When I look back today on my time at Drakenstein and my eventual departure in 2005, I realize that the "golden handshake" was actually a gift of time and freedom. The political shifts and the rise of the so-called directors changed the face of municipal service forever, but it could not erase the integrity of the work we did.

My walks in the Perdeskoen taught me that life, just like that 8 kilometre route, has its bumps and its beauty. Whether it was the "Smellington" smells of the past or the grueling climb up the Hawequas with my sons, every step was part of a greater journey.

I learned that you should not measure your status by a title on a municipal account, but by the traces you leave behind - whether in a meticulous Excel spreadsheet, or on a dusty farm road. I close this chapter of my working life knowing that I walked my way as long as I could, always with my feet flat on the ground, and always with a nod of the head to those who crossed my path.