CoGTA to appeal Ntanzi’s reinstatement

Lolo Madonsela

The MEC of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) in KwaZulu-Natal, Sipho Hlomuka will appeal the court’s decision to reinstate Municipal Manager, Bonga Ntanzi at AbaQulusi Local Municipality.

Ntanzi returned to office with immediate effect last week, which was welcomed by the Speaker of the Council, Michael Khumalo.

In a statement from CoGTA, spokesperson Nonala Ndlovu said, “The MEC is appealing the judgement of the court. The view is held that the court provided a narrow interpretation to a particular principle, whereas it is believed that a broader interpretation is necessary.” She further stated that the position of Sabatha Shongwe, who was acting MM while Ntanzi was on suspension, was under consideration.

Mayor of AbaQulusi Municipality, Mncedisi Maphisa said CoGTA had a right to appeal the matter but insisted the municipality would seek to overturn the appeal in the courtroom.

“CoGTA has a right to appeal when they have reasons, but we will also go to court for that appeal not to be granted. Honestly, their chances of winning are slim,” stated Maphisa.

He said CoGTA was not being fair on Ntanzi and felt this had become a personal matter. “The court found that I was right to write to Ntanzi and request him to return to work. CoGTA does not care about the people of AbaQulusi. CoGTA must be fair in terms of its obligations and should not take sides with the ANC. Should CoGTA continue with the appeal, we will not suspend Ntanzi because Council never suspended him in the first place. He will continue with his duties while the matter is in court.”

Also read: Court ruling has Municipal Manager back in office

Maphisa painted a picture of how much financial loss the municipality endured during Ntanzi’s suspension, due to paying him and Shongwe for five months.

“An amount of R400 000 was spent by municipality on the acting Municipal Manager and an additional R300 000 on accommodation and food at the B&B where Shongwe was staying these past months. With this amount, we could have bought a brand new water tanker and cherry picker. The municipality is only obliged to pay for accommodation for any senior office bearer for one month, but our municipality was forced to spend so much. We have also lost a lot of money under the watch of CoGTA; one is even tempted to ask if they did not have anything to do with it, to destabilise the municipality.” He further suggested the money CoGTA was spending on court cases against Ntanzi be instead given to the municipality to deliver services.

“We have sewage and infrastructure challenges in eMondlo, we have a backlog on electricity, and we need to empower young people. It is winter now; it gets dark pretty quick and we need to erect high-mast lights in communities for their safety, so this money will go a long way. We are appealing to CoGTA to just give that money to us, to address the challenges in our communities.”

Maphisa also praised Ntanzi for ‘hitting the ground running’, after resuming his duties as Municipal Manager last week. The Mayor said the MM had already started the recruitment process for directors of especially critical departments such as Technical Services, which Maphisa called an intervention.

“Should he be taken to court again, this process will be halted. He is busy working on a plan with Quantum Leap, finding a way forward on how we can keep our town clean. There are many issues he is addressing in the municipality. He initiated a payment plan on Eskom debt before he was suspended and we have managed to pay a chunk, with approximately R28-million still remaining. Our people need to do the right in 2024 and change this CoGTA into the department it was under previous leadership; which was honest and fair.”

Ndlovu said that she would respond once she had an official comment, as the priority at the moment was the state of disaster declared by President, Cyril Ramaphosa last night. “I have to get an official response which might take some time. The main priority right now is the state of disaster that has been declared. I will forward the response as soon as I get it though.”

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