Utrecht Municipality has now been taken to court by AfriForum as part of their Away with unqualified municipal officials campaign.
This follows the failure of the municipality to produce documents to indicate the compliance of the officials within the Municipal Regulations on Minimum Competency Standards.
The documents were requested by Andrè Homann, Chairman of the Utrecht branch of AfriForum in October 2013. To date, the eMadlangeni Local Municipality has failed to produce any documents in response.
“Poor service delivery in the province has forced us to investigate whether the people responsible for service delivery are qualified to provide the services,” said Chris Fourie, Community Coordinator for AfriForum in KwaZulu-Natal. “If they are not and have not been given extension to comply with the competency regulations, we will have no choice but to have them removed,” he continued.
The municipality in question has neglected to respond to AfriForum, however, the implications could be serious, showcasing political nepotism at its worst. For now, residents say they are governed by allegedly incompetent officials, with no proof of qualifications they would require to manage a community.
