MIDDELBURG – His departure from this municipality has been looming for some time now, following a series of service delivery protests and municipal employees being fired. In November 2021 this municipality fired 500 workers for allegedly protesting illegally for three months.

The workers were accused of failing to report for duty since September when they began their strike over various issues, including a salary dispute, until they were all dismissed in November.

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However, following a series of interventions and negotiations, the workers were all rehired and brought back into the municipal system. In February, our sister paper, Middelburg Observer, reported that some municipal workers and their unions were contemplating to embark on yet another strike.

Confirming his departure was the executive mayor, Cllr Mhlonishwa Masilela, who through a statement welcomed Khenisa’s resignation.

“I accepted the resignation of Adv Bheki Khenisa effective as per the council resolution that he will be serving a 30-day’s notice. I want to thank him for his service to the municipality and wish him all the best in his future endeavours. It is important that the municipality stays focused on its mission of delivering services to our communities. Khenisa’s resignation ensures that the focus of our municipality will be squarely on delivering services to the people of the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality,” said Masilela.

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He continued, “Our goal is to continue to support the hard-working employees of this municipality and to continue our mission of cleaning our streets, performing critical infrastructure work, and taking care of our communities.”

The current executive director for community services, Thokozile Zulu, will serve as the acting municipal manager with effect from April 1, for a period of three months or until a new manager is appointed