The new Speaker in the eThekwini Municipality, Cllr Weziwe Thusi, has this week failed the first test of her role as the Speaker of the Municipality by omitting important information about the activities of councillors, including former Mayor Cllr Zandile Gumede and former EXCO member Cllr Mondli Mthembu, from her first report to the eThekwini Ethics Committee at its meeting.
The Democratic Alliance Caucus in the eThekwini Municipality is surprised and disappointed that during this meeting, Cllr Thusi did not have the courage to deal properly with Cllrs Gumede and Mthembu and the much heard about 62 ANC councillors in the eThekwini Municipality who have been identified by the HAWKS as having been involved in questionable activities linked to the Durban Solid Waste contracts which have landed former Mayor Cllr Zandile Gumede and former EXCO member Cllr Mondli Mthembu, and others, in court on criminal charges.
At the meeting of the Municipality’s Ethics Committee on Wednesday this week, the Report tabled by the Speaker, Cllr Thusi, for the period July 2019 to September 2019 omitted any mention of the activities of those councillors.
The Ethics Committee is a Section 79 committee established by the Council to ensure compliance by councillors with the Code of Conduct for Municipal Councillors. The Speaker submits regular reports to the Ethics Committee on issues requiring its attention. The Ethics Committee then conducts a hearing and decides on a suitable sanction to be recommended to the Full Council for adoption. The possible sanctions range from the issue of an informal warning to the errant Councillor to requesting the MEC to remove the errant Councillor from office.
It is important to note that clause 4.3.1.2. of the Terms of Reference of the Ethics Committee states that the Ethics Committee should “make a finding on any alleged breach of the Code and make appropriate recommendations to the Municipal Council”. It is not necessary that the errant Councillor has to have been found guilty in any court for the matter to be referred to the Ethics Committee. Once an allegation has been made, the Ethics Committee process applies.
Conduct such as interfering in the administration of the Municipality constitutes a contravention of the Code of Conduct and should be reported to the Ethics Committee for a hearing and if found guilty, for a suitable sanction to be recommended to Full Council.
The DA will not sit idly by and allow senior leadership figures in the ANC to protect errant councillors who have done wrong. The DA will use all avenues to ensure that good governance prevails.