{"id":857064,"date":"2026-04-14T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=857064"},"modified":"2026-04-14T16:36:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T14:36:59","slug":"155-year-old-seaside-town-in-south-africa-where-war-is-brewing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/857064\/155-year-old-seaside-town-in-south-africa-where-war-is-brewing\/","title":{"rendered":"155-year-old seaside town in South Africa where war is brewing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Legal war is brewing in the small coastal town of Knysna, as residents and other stakeholders refuse to accept collapsing service delivery and leadership instability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knysna’s beginnings date back to 1804, when George Rex, a British-born entrepreneur credited with founding Knysna, purchased land, effectively settling the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the small seaside town was only officially established in South Africa in 1871, making it over 155 years old. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Located along the Garden Route between George and Plettenberg Bay, Knysna has long attracted wealthy South Africans and foreign buyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These buyers have flocked to the town for its coastal living and natural beauty, coupled with a perceived escape from the pressures of major cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Henley & Partners\u2019 African Wealth Report, the broader Garden Route region is home to around 3,200 high-net-worth individuals, primarily concentrated in towns such as Knysna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeff Knysna licensee Gail Rimbault previously told BusinessTech that transactions for the 12 months to the end of November 2025 reached R2.2 billion, with an average transaction price of R3.7 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, despite this demand, residents of Knysna have faced a sharp decline in basic services that has reached a breaking point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Accountability Group (TAG) has noted that it is now preparing legal action to force accountability and halt the town\u2019s deterioration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with BizNews<\/a>, TAG\u2019s Robert Winn said that Knysna is at a turning point, and warned that the municipality is increasingly unable to meet even basic service delivery obligations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the moment, Knysna is struggling to deliver a lot of its services. The municipal dump is piling up, and sewage pump stations are flooding into the estuary and polluting it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the water issues, Winn added that while some progress has been made on fixing burst pipes with provincial assistance, the municipality is heavily reliant on outside intervention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plan to use the courts to force accountability<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A key concern raised by TAG is the municipality\u2019s financial position, which appears far weaker than official figures suggest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another TAG member, Eric de Jager, pointed to a dramatic collapse in the reported surplus in the municipal budget. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had a R234 million surplus, which was fantastic; we thought we could now start putting money into infrastructure,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he explained that when they checked the adjustment budget, the surplus collapsed to R14.4 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De Jager warned that this figure then becomes meaningless when environmental penalties are considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe NEMA fines are sitting at R30 million, and I\u2019ve heard it could be up to R200 million plus. When you consider that, the R14 million surplus means nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De Jager also said the municipality\u2019s liquidity position is being misrepresented. \u201cThe key benchmark is the current ratio. They say it\u2019s doing very well, but it takes no account of the debtor\u2019s book.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He noted that around R400 million of the municipality\u2019s roughly R600 million debtors’ book is unlikely to be recovered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you take a true reflection, you\u2019ve got 82 cents of assets for every R1 of liability. The municipality is in financial distress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This financial strain is directly affecting infrastructure investment. \u201cThere isn\u2019t any money for infrastructure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De Jager estimated that Knysna should be spending around R194 million annually on maintenance and renewal, but is only allocating between R40 million and R50 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winn said the consequences are visible across the town. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen areas without water, with \u2018water shedding\u2019 becoming the new load shedding,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that residents and businesses are already feeling the impact. \u201cPeople are cancelling their Airbnbs because there\u2019s no water.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TAG believes mismanagement, staffing shortages, and misplaced spending priorities are at the heart of the problem. \u201cThere are 111 critical positions unfilled; we don\u2019t have the staff on the ground,\u201d said Winn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that expenditure on infrastructure is currently at 0.5% in Knysna, and Treasury recommends a minimum of 7%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that nearly half the budget is spent on salaries. \u201cAbout 47% of our budget is going towards salaries. It\u2019s very clear the municipality is struggling to assign the budget to the right departments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TAG noted that it is now escalating its response. \u201cWhat we\u2019re doing is compiling information needed to hold the right people accountable,\u201d said Winn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThrough legal frameworks, we\u2019re going to be using the law to bring that accountability and make sure we get the answers residents deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group is also calling on the community to support its efforts. TAG encouraged residents who really care about our town to stand together as one and continue to ask questions and demand answers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winn stressed that the town\u2019s decline is recent and avoidable. \u201cKnysna was doing fine five years ago, but now it\u2019s deteriorating at a rapid rate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Knysna images <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Legal war is brewing in one of South Africa’s oldest millionaire towns, as residents refuse to accept collapsing service delivery and leadership instability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":857090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[18849,21245,853,25181],"class_list":["post-857064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-biznews","tag-knysna","tag-south-africa","tag-the-accountability-group-tag"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=857064"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857064\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":857161,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857064\/revisions\/857161"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}