AbaQulusi mayor addresses members of the media

A media conference took place in council chambers on Monday.
Members of different publications were addressed by Mayor Khehla Mkhwanazi; the speaker, deputy mayor and other officials of AbaQulusi Local Municipality were also present.
The mayor touched on different issues the municipality has faced before he was in office and after. Mkhwanazi shared that AbaQulusi Municipality is now ‘stable’, as all political parties are working hard to comply with all laws and regulations to retain stability within the municipality.
Mkwanazi also talked about the incident in Hlobane that has been circulating on different media platforms, where a young man was allegedly killed by his bodyguards when they were disconnecting illegal connections. He said, “Following those allegations, council resolved that the municipality appoint a private investigator and should there be any wrongdoings from the mayor’s side, the council’s Ethics Committee will then also deal with the matter and resolve whether the mayor be ousted or not. As a result, we have received the report from the investigators and it clears the mayor’s name. However, a detailed report with all the recommendations will be shared with the media after the council meeting on Tuesday.’’
Mkhwanazi also briefed members of the media on the suspension of Mr Dhlamini, who was recently appointed as municipal manager. He commented that “The only administrative issue that the municipality is currently dealing with is that of the municipal manager, Mr ZG Dhlamini. On August 24, 2023, the mayor received a letter from IMATU regarding acts of misconduct pursuant to certain utterances made by the municipal manager in a meeting with certain staff members on August 23. Pursuant to the written representations made by the municipal manager to council, council proceeded to suspend the municipal manager on October 19, 2023, pending the outcome of an independent investigation.’’
He further mentioned that, “It is a well-known fact that we have been facing several incidents of cable theft and vandalism to our infrastructure. Our concern in this matter led to council taking a resolution that an independent investigator be appointed. This appointment is bearing fruit, as we have made a number of arrests in town and in Hlobane. In an effort to improve on revenue collection, we have embarked on a programme to disconnect all illegal connections. Even though this may have become thorny for our communities, it is our best option to be able to provide services optimally.’’
Another issue faced by the municipality was the allegation that the Director of Corporate Services Mrs Sbonga Dlamini presented false qualifications and did not qualify to be the director. Mkhwanazi explained that, “The matter has been investigated several times. It was investigated by the municipality through NMK Forensic, which was appointed by the then administrator and I can safely confirm to you that Ms Dlamini is indeed qualified to hold her current position; there was no falsification of her work experience of six years as the Director of Corporate Service, as well as her qualifications.’’
Mkhwanazi concluded by saying, “The municipality will continue making progress to improve the lives of AbaQulusi citizens by ensuring that we conduct oversight and ensure that we adhere to our service delivery mandate while aiming to move from an Unqualified Audit Opinion to a Clean Audit Outcome.’’

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