Martin Endjala
Karibib’s deputy mayor, Mechelle Swartz has resigned from her position to take up a permanent cashier role within the council.
Swartz represented the Landless People’s Party (LPM) on the council.
Karibib’s mayor, Davey Van Wyk confirmed Swartz’s resignation to the Windhoek Observer on Thursday.
“She resigned recently after she was appointed as the new cashier after emerging as the successful candidate,” he said.
The cashier position became vacant in 2023 after the previous cashier resigned amid allegations of embezzlement of council funds.
The former cashier, Ndatoolewe Mwahafa, and the council’s accountant, Ann-Mary Mutilifa, were arrested for allegedly defrauding the council of over N$300,000 between September 2022 and September 2023.
The two appeared in the Karibib Magistrate’s Court on 22 February 2024, where they were granted bail of N$20 000 each.
The case was postponed for further investigation.
So far, over N$2 000 has reportedly been recovered.
Van Wyk said nothing is unbecoming for the council to employ Swarts.
“There is nothing wrong with a councillor to do as Swartz did because, as a deputy mayor, she is on a term basis, and there is no guarantee of another job once the term ends. Hence, she saw an opportunity for job security and declared her intentions as a councillor to apply for the cashier job.
Van Wyk clarified that council rules prohibit councillors from holding two positions within the council.
According to him, the hiring process was conducted fairly, without nepotism or favouritism.
“She competed for the position fairly and she was selected based on her qualifications and for outsourcing other applicants,” he said.
Van Wyk said he has not encountered any difficulties working with her and that there is no bad blood between them.
“Look. I know there are people out there who like to create issues that are not there. I am a mayor, and I have qualifications that I could have used to apply for the chief executive officer post, which has a paying salary. But no, I did not,” he clarified.
He further clarified that he chose to serve the people, and the same can be said for Swartz.
He said, ”When an opportunity like this comes along, you take it if you want it. So there is nothing wrong with that. She exercised her rights as a citizen. Simple as that”.
The council held a meeting last week and passed a resolution submitted to the LPM party to appoint the next person on the list to replace Swartz.
Dawid Eigub, the party’s operative secretary, could, however, not confirm the person who will replace Swartz, as he did not answer questions sent to him.
