A change of the guard at Endumeni and Umzinyathi?

Speculation is rife that there will be a change in the guard in local government both in Endumeni and in the Umzinyathi District.

This follows the ANC’s provincial meeting where ‘stock was taken’ of local government in KZN ahead of next year’s local government elections.

Umzinyathi was fingered in an ANC statement by spokesman, Sihle Zikalala, as one of the districts ‘where there are elements of difficulties’.

This lead to the dramatic ‘recalling’ (ANC speak for axing) of Umzinyathi’s long serving Mayor, Rev Dr James Mthethwa.

The motion was withdrawn before Thursday’s Council meeting.

However, while there has been no official comment from the party, ANC insiders told the Courier that Mayor Mthethwa would be relieved of his duties and will be replaced by a serving Endumeni Councillor.

This will mean Endumeni will have to vote in a new Mayor and speculation is that the next Mayor would be a woman.

Further drama was also prevented at the Endumeni Municipality when a planned workers’ meeting was moved from inside the building to the Moth Hall.

Mayor Thulani Mahaye said workers had a right to meet but it was also important that the municipality continued to ‘function’ as normal.

The meeting did go ahead in the Moth Hall where various issues were discussed including the actions of a senior manager who sources said has been ‘instrumental in bringing back discipline to the municipality’.

Illegal appointments
Over 20 illegal appointments made after the infamous inquorated meeting of September 2013 have been scrapped and a further three officials fired after disciplinary hearings after being found guilty of, among other charges, gross negligence.

Several other cases against officials are continuing.
In a statement following the provincial summit, the ANC’s Mr Zikalala said:
“Competence Levels: there are requisite skills, which are only obtained by those employed in municipalities.
“Provision of basic Services: the capacity of the local municipalities to provide services gets undermined by a lack of economic activities and revenue generation.

“The ANC will continue investigating possible revenue generation per each municipality and bolster those activities identified.
“We call on all municipalities to fight corruption and mismanagement and reach a point where these elements are not associated with government.

“We also call on all municipalities to sustain and keep close contact with the people and listen to them and respond to their requests effectively at all times. No government facility must continue to have long queues of people.

“We will work on building effective links between all government spheres. Given its close proximity to the people, Local Government takes strain and gets blamed even for services of provincial and national government. The ANC-led government, both Provincial and Local Government, should ensure complementary approach and ensure that they work in support of each other.”