The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to both KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) CoGTA MEC, Sipho Hlomuka, and the Chairperson of the province’s CoGTA portfolio committee (view here), to recommend that the uMkhanyakude District Municipality be immediately dissolved in terms of Section 139 (1)(c) of the Constitution.
The move comes as the uMkhanyakude District Municipality continues to go from bad to worse despite having been placed under administration.
The DA believes that the ANC and IFP are jointly responsible for the collapse of the municipality which has severely impacted the delivery of services. It is clear that there is both a political and administrative problem in this district and that harsh action must be taken to restore service to the people of uMkhanyakude.
The situation has got to the point where councillors from both parties deliberately do not attend meetings and where there are allegations of councillors being bribed to stay away on both sides. Both parties have caused a situation where the municipal council no longer sits and officials have become entangled in political affairs.
The extent of the problem is further evidenced by the Administrator stating that existing critical challenges include “Political instability within the council (ANC and IFP) disabling it from quorating for a valid meeting.”
The DA has also called on the MEC to amend the terms of the Administrators appointment to ensure that he implements the recommendations from the six outstanding forensic reports as well as the Section 106 report – including those findings against municipal officials.
These reports contain vital information about who is responsible for the rot and collapse that has taken place in the municipality. It is these reports that have become items of contention between the ANC and IFP in the district council. It is alleged that they also finger the former Mayor and the current Municipal Manager, amongst others.
Other reports from the municipality show;
• Unauthorised expenditure to the value of R423 299 536
• Fruitless and wasteful expenditure of R81 071 613
• Irregular expenditure of R2 805 343 426
• Audit findings increased from 64 in the 2018/2019 year to 92 in the 2019/2020 year. Most of these were in the municipality’s finance Department
• Service providers abandoning sites due to non-payment
• R89 million of Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) funding to be lost and
• Seven critical units which relate to the functioning of the municipality that are dysfunctional.
Then there are the troubles within the municipality’s finance department. It is so bad that the Administrator refers to the current Chief Financial Officer (CFO) as the Deputy CFO while the Municipal Manager refers to this person as the Acting CFO.
The breakdown in the relationship between the Municipal Manager and the Deputy CFO is so severe that legally required reports are not being presented to councillors or the mayor and contracts are being signed and amended irregularly, including Section 122, 126, 126(3) and 131(1) reports.
As the country enters the 3rd wave of the Covid-19 pandemic it is also extremely worrying to note that the uMkhanyakude District Command Council had not met for a number of months at the time of the report on the status of the municipality being presented on 9 June.
The reason for not meeting was highlighted as being “disruption by the change in political leadership.” Meanwhile, municipal officials coming into contact with communities still do not have sufficient Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
It is unacceptable that the ANC an IFP are playing games with the lives of the people of this region. The DA urges the MEC to take off his ANC hat and for once make a decision that puts the people of KZN first.
