The Democratic Alliance in Umkhanyakude District Municipality today calls on the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, to immediately intervene as the power struggle between the ANC and IFP has brought this municipality to a standstill.
This after it was announced yesterday that the ANC would now govern this municipality, barely a week after the IFP had taken over as the ruling party.
Since the November 2021 Local Government Elections, there’s been much unrest in this municipality. These two parties have been in and out of the courts over who should run the municipality. One week it’s the ANC, the next it’s the IFP that’s in power. This has continued without any resolve or intervention. It is time that this matter is put to rest so residents can be able to get the service delivery that they deserve.
This power struggle has brought an already unstable municipality to its knees. This is a municipality that can barely afford to provide its residents with clean drinking water. The continued fight for power will have a detrimental impact on lives and livelihoods.
Last week, Umkhanyakude received a disclaimer from the Auditor-General. This is the worst audit outcome for a municipality. If nothing is done urgently the worse is yet to come.
It is for this reason that we have written to the CoGTA Minister. We believe immediate intervention is needed to resolve this matter.
It is high time that the ANC and IFP put the interests of residents first.