Municipal manager says goodbye after 23-years at helm

From there he helped build municipalities like Benoni, Secunda and Randburg, where in one year, 42 town areas was proclaimed at the latter.

Before he ingested the water of the Klein Olifants, which they say will always pulse through your veins, he led the municipality of Phalaborwa from 1987 to 1991.

“In 1991, everything changed,” he recalls, among other things his hairline, which rapidly receded alongside the then political dispensation.

He never knew he would end up in government administration.

“In 1965, after writing matric, I was conscripted for my military training, but alas I never received my train ticket,” he backtracks.

After learning that he was exempted from military duty, he even tried to join the army voluntarily, but the opportunity was denied because, he believes, too many men had been called upon to join.

He now had to find work and fast.

Having been introduced to the council chambers by his father Paul, a staunch Conservative Party member who served on the Randfontein council during Willie’s senior secondary year, and later became the leader of the opposition in the Pretoria council, after losing out on a Parliamentary seat by less than 100 votes, he applied with the state, got the job, and suddenly earned R73 per month.

After two years, he was promoted to the Peri-urban council, overseeing outlying areas, like Halfway House, which would later become a proper municipality known as Midrand.

It was during his tenure on the Peri-urban council that he started studying towards a BA degree with private law and political science as his main subjects.

It was in Randfontein where he decided to dig in his heels and become the local government management specialist he is today and luckily for the town, Randburg’s loss would become Middelburg’s gain in a stormy period where balances of power shifted to the left.

Mr Fouché says that when he arrived, a gigantic pair of shoes, molded to the foot of former town clerk Mr Peter Collin, stood waiting for him.

He padded his socks to fill the moccasins, Peter had ventured onto the national stage with to receive the prestigious Masakhane Award for the best municipality out of 400 plus, a feat which he would repeat tens of times before his retirement today.

“I must admit, it was the easiest job for me to excel because of the giants Mr Collin surrounded himself with, legends like Kees taljaard, Gene Hydenrich, Jos Pretorius (presently a DA councilor) and Jaap Groenewald, among others.

Apart from the Masakhane accolade, Mr Fouché recalls Mr Collin’s feat of introducing pre-paid electrical meters in Mhluzi homes in 1990 – 1991, something that was unheard of at the time.

Enter the ANC…

“I knew many changes would come, and come fast,” Mr Fouché says about a period of loggerheads, a tug-of-war for that which was, and was to come.

In October 1994, following the first democratic elections, the Greater Middelburg transitional council came into being, with Ben Mokoena being elected mayor on 7 October that year.

Mr Fouché will never forget the moment when he draped the mayoral chain around the neck of a man he still reveres as one of the best leaders Middelburg had ever had.

Mr Mokoena was replaced by mayor Sydney Choma in October 1997, and after his passing in June 2000, Mr Mokoena was again elected mayor but the next year he was ousted by the ANC, who introduced Ms Manthalkeng Mahlangu as their candidate.

The same year, the municipality became a bona fide local government tier.

The embattled nurse tuned mayor, had few praise singers, and Mr Fouché concedes “she was a difficult person,” though he says, she was 100% honest and unafraid to make decisions, a characteristic Mr Fouché says made the municipality the most stable it could ever be.

“She was unphased by her political bosses, employing the most capable people in key positions, which went against the grain of her organisation,” Mr Fouche said, adding that she found it quite acceptable to demand your attention 24/7, with her favorite times of work between 22:00 and dawn.

“I personally experienced her as a difficult person, but we won the most awards under her tenure, she always argued that a 36-hour turn-around period to fix potholes was flawed, ‘why not fix it now’ she would argue”.

“Mayor Mike Masina is the total opposite, a lover of peace, a preacher of hope, always willing to listen and adapt,” Mr Fouché explains.

Mayors aside, it is his team of workers that he will remember most fondly.

“People like CFO Elmarie Wasserman, who made it naught but a pleasure to come to work every day,” he says, counting the names on his fingers as he goes.

“There is not a single negative incident I can recall, and I hope that the community of Middelburg will remain proud of the municipality and its workers, who, will endure in their loyalty towards the community, that I know for a fact,” Mr Fouché concludes.

But, before the notepad closes, he has this to say: “My dearest better half, Hanlie, you have been my anchor in stormy waters, since our marriage in 1979, you saved me from more than one ulcer, and guided me with a clear head, and soft hand towards great highs, both in my career and personal life. I thank you for your support, without which I could never have made it to here”.

The couple will soon move house to Hartbeespoort Dam where they will be closer to their children Jana (a computer engineer), Paul (a dentist specializing in Orthodontics) and what Mr Fouché lovingly refers to as their “pension thief,” Lizelle, who has finished her LLB degree and is busy with her articles.