I deeply appreciate the decision by COGTA to bring the service of an Administrator to our sinking municipality because a lot is going wrong. Honestly, if you lack public management skills, you will always have a problem and if you allow politicians to interfere with administrative issues like labour-related matters, you will definitely have a problem because they will drag you in the wrong direction through promises they made prior to elections.

READ THE STORY HERE: Cogta MEC to place Inkosi Langalibalele Local Municipality under administration

If you lack public management skills and know nothing about the interpretation and implementation of rules and regulations as to how to govern the municipality like interpreting and implementing of Municipal Finance Management Act, Municipal Systems Act, Municipal Structures Act, Municipal By-laws, Labour Law not also following SCM policies with lack of financial discipline, then you have a big problem. Let’s face the fact, if you are qualified to work in the private sector, follow that career path and not in the public sector because that is where the problem starts.

A person qualified in welding must follow that path not in administration. The biggest mistake all the municipalities are making is appointing unqualified people in key positions, which contributes in the wrong interpretation and implementation of the above acts and delays service delivery through nepotism. That is why we have problems like this because in every field you need insight for you to make right decisions, at the right time. This leads to municipalities taking right decisions at the wrong time, which becomes automatically wrong. You definitely need insight and expert knowledge in every department.

There is also a problem of staff crowding. In some offices, you find more than three staff members in one office and single computer, which tells you that there is something wrong in the municipality and this was caused by the amalgamation of two municipalities – Imbabazane and Umtshezi.

In this case, I thought that there is a plan in place to avoid this. I thought that others will be transferred to other satellite offices and new offices be in place before this happened. Employing more staff members with these unresolved problems creates more and more problems, especially posts that were advertised in April (which are still under big question mark?) The way they were advertised when there were people already working in some other positions, brings the placement policy in question. In this municipality, a lot is going wrong like when there are tariff changes, planned electricity cut-offs or changes in indigent policies, the communities are not alerted or informed about these changes why?

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In the Wembezi Library there are no newspapers and minutes of both council and Executive Committee to read. Is there something to hide from public knowledge because we cannot all attend these meetings as observers? Labour related issues – a very sensitive one because if you look at council resolution number 367.07.12 about hearings that have been pending for too long to be finalised (the delay caused by the employer) meaning that there is a big problem with the interpretation and implementation of labour law especially Section 186(c), 187(c), (d) and (f) of Labour Relations Act, Section 20(5), 6 of Employment Equity Act, Section 9, 21 and 23 of the Constitution. When dealing with cases like these, you need a highly qualified person with the right expertise and experience in labour law and who won’t be bias in any way, who will not take sides in resolving disputes like these and then you won’t have disputes pending for too long, waiting to be finalised.

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Dismissing employees with no valid reasons will cripple the municipality in a big way. We have also projects that are unfinished, others are at standstill and those that are in question like Wembezi taxi rank (what was is for?), unfinished Wembezi Stadium and Multipurpose Centre, potholes and the mall that was supposed to be built at fire station, just to mention but a few.

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The other biggest concern is when there are planned tariff changes, electricity cut offs and indigent policies and no one cares in the municipality just to inform the community about this, just like during load shedding when notices were always sent to the public.

This is disturbing the peace of daily life of the community and also violating our right to know, in terms of the national constitution.

Mr EV Shezi
Loch-Sloy

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