An application to turn the posts of Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Speaker into full-time positions has split Endumeni Council into clear lines.
The ANC insists the recommendation is “just an application to the office of the MEC of Co-operative Governance & Traditional Affairs (COGTA)” and not a fait compli that the posts will be turned into ‘full-time positions’, which will see the salary notches of the three incumbents escalate.

However, the opposition parties (DA, EFF, IFP) are against making the application, as the “cost of the move will add further pressure on municipal coffers that are already under stress”. 

Cllr Anthon Raubenheimer said at the ‘virtual special council meeting’ that Endumeni had already had to dip in and take out R18 million from municipal reserves just to pay salaries and fulfil operation costs in June.

“Together with the huge theft of electricity – over R5 million in June – Endumeni is in no position to go ahead and pay for full-time positions.
Cllr S Zwane (ANC) retorted that the ANC opposed the move in 2016 ‘as the IFP-led Council had in turn led to corruption and a Special Investigation Unit probe’.

Mayor Mdluli insists that the Council will make the final decision, dependent on what the MEC decides.\

See this weeks Courier for the full story

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