There was an attempt to hold last Tuesday’s special council meeting in a less fractious atmosphere that has been the hallmark of previous Council meetings.
Speaker, Bongiwe Mbatha, politely urged all councillors to be calm and should not forget that the people voted for them
“Councillors need to be responsible and stop the animosity they have against each other. Councillors should remember to fulfil their mandate as leaders, even though they come from different parties, we still have to serve the public and put our differences aside,” she said. The resignation of Nazeema Chenia as acting Chief Financial Manager (CFO) left the municipality with no one to take over the position. The position has been vacant ever since she was on ten days leave and later resigned from her acting post.
TP Biyela, the municipal manager, who was on suspension for the past three years, wanted to know if her resignation from her ‘post was genuine or did she just want to frustrate the municipality.’
Councillor Dr Sandy Bedassi, asked Mr Biyela to withdraw his remarks which he did.
The ANC wanted to know who was acting CFO to which Speaker Mbatha replied ‘there is no one in the CFO office at the moment’ but she hoped that they would appoint someone soon’.

Mayor Richard Mbatha commented that organisations that receive grants-in-aid must issue three-year expenditure reports, including bank statements and registration certificates.

Councillor Carelse proposed Bongani Mdletshe, who previously worked at Umzinyathi to sit in as acting CFO for the next three months. It was also heard that CFO, Bonga Mkhize, who was suspended earlier this year, had been ordered to report back to work while the Municipality prepares its case at the Bargaining Council. While she did go back into office, it was decided to place her on special leave until the outcome of the case against her has been finalised.
Also on the agenda was the appointment of a Corporate Services Manager. The DA had previously said that the adjudication panel should just be three people as per the act, which includes the chairman of the portfolio committee, the municipal manager and an independent person.

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This was supported by the ANC. Councillor Raubenheimer cited that “we are supposed to get the legal opinion before moving forward with this matter”.
There were also questions about the validity of decisions made by previous acting municipal manager, Desi Padayachee, who has also been since suspended. The recommendation says ‘all his decisions that he took be agreed upon’. This was supported by Councillor Raubenheimer who said this recommendation must be partly adopted and the matter be sent for legal advice. However, ANC Councillor Sduduzo Mdluli disagreed with Councillor Raubenheimer claiming how they can agree with something that was not given a legal opinion. Later, Councillor Raubenheimer agreed that a legal opinion on the matter was vital.
Mayor Richard Mbatha commented that organisations that receive grants-in-aid must issue three-year expenditure reports, including bank statements and registration certificates.