A message from the Mayor
"We must keep moving forward to make our town better..."
IN light of recent rumours regarding the resignation of the Mayor, confirmation has been received that Cllr Martin Mtshali has, in fact, resigned from his post as Mayor of AbaQulusi.
Mtshali handed in his letter of resignation last week. However, the resignation has not yet been tabled and Mayor Mtshali is not yet resigning himself from continuing with his duties and responsibilities as captain of the ship, as it were, of AbaQulusi.
While this raises many questions, Mtshali himself maintains that “we must keep moving forward to make our town better…”
YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO READ:
https://vryheidherald.co.za/51541/community-has-confidence-in-new-mayor/
Mayor Martin Mtshali writes: “From the last report tabled in the newspaper, three months back in January 2017, it becomes imperative that one reflects on the activities of the past months to-date.
Staffing matters: As everyone will appreciate, one of the challenges we faced was that of having the Municipality run like “Hollywood” with almost everyone “acting.” This had, and still has, serious and adverse repercussions on sustainable service delivery. However, as we dug deep into the core of the problem, we observed that there is more to the problem than meets the eye. The biggest contributing factor was the ill-defined organogram.
We had to re-direct our efforts into correcting this anomaly, and with the commitment received from Acting Senior personnel and Organised Labour, we have reached a point where we can safely say “now we have an appropriate functional organogram.”
ALSO READ:
https://vryheidherald.co.za/53891/mayor-accused-of-mismanaging-school-funds/
Let it be emphasised that the organogram is still a plan that will help us execute the mandate given by voters, that of delivering services to them. The next step will be to source competent employees to fulfil the mandate.
Integrated development plan and budget: The integrated development plan (IDP) is the plan agreed upon by residents and the Municipality on the level of development residents aspire to have. It is the prime responsibility of the Municipality to render services identified by its clientele.
From April 21 until April 30, Council will be out on roadshows, Ward by Ward, with the intention to hear what residents are aspiring for.
Mention must be made, however, that not everything residents wish for will be met at one go. Residents’ wishes shall be prioritised and spread over a period of five years.
It must also be brought to light that some of the needs of the people are not within the competency of the Municipality. Some will fall within the competencies of the District, Province or National spheres and others will fall within the competencies of various Departments within Government. Those that fall outside the competency of the Municipality will be forwarded to respective service providers and those falling within the ambit of the Municipality will be attended to in order of priority and will also be subject to the availability of funds.
We remain, nonetheless, resolute in sourcing funds for purposes of development. Having completed the IDP cycle and Roadshows, a budget shall be appropriated for 2017/18, which should be passed by May 31 for it to take effect on July 1. For ease of reference, information will also be posted on the Municipal website.
Water supply: The Municipality is pulling no stops to restore supply of water to the town and surrounds. We wish to thank our residents, cum consumers, for the patience shown during the most difficult time when we couldn’t supply water to households because of drought. It must also be mentioned that it is not Utopia as yet. Let’s use our valuable commodity sparingly…”
