Two weeks after the Democratic Alliance (DA), with support from opposition parties in the Ngwathe Local Municipality, invoked Rule 79 of the Council’s standing rules and orders to present a motion of No Confidence in Ngwathe’s executive mayor, Ms Victoria de Beer Mtombeni. the speaker has yet to set a date for the special council meeting to vote on the motion.
Earlier, the party said the motion underscored the imperative for efficient governance and responsible leadership, particularly regarding water supply, electricity, finance and infrastructure. It said the ongoing, severe lack of reliable water supply affected communal well-being.
According to the DA, the Auditor-General’s report highlighting unaccounted water meter installations and substantial losses are also a concern, as was the dire condition of critical infrastructure like the Vredefort purification plant. The ongoing water problems in Vredefort and Parys led to renewed service delivery protests in both towns in the past two weeks. Besides inadequate water purification facilities and limited water reserves, “the mismanagement of funds allocated for water services” raised questions about financial responsibility and accoun- tability, the DA said in their motivation for the motion.
Regarding electricity, the party is concerned about the misuse of funds allocated for electricity programmes, which, they say, also highlights financial irresponsibility. Furthermore, the escalating electricity losses and mounting debt to Eskom are alarming. “The executive mayor’s disregard of a Constitutional Court Order has led to further load shedding, causing econo-mic and social distress,” the party said. It pointed out that neglected maintenance had led to deteriorating infrastructure. There was also a lack of community involvement and transparency in the IDP process.
Regarding finance, the party pointed out escalating financial losses, exceeding liabilities and significant unauthorised, irregular and wasteful expenditure, equating to “a failure to manage funds efficiently and comply with supply chain management requirements”.
The process that had to be followed was for the speaker to immediately upon recei- ving the motion, determine the date, time and venue for a special council meeting in terms of rule 4. The date of the special meeting to vote on the motion may not be fewer than fourteen, and not more than 21 days from when the speaker received a copy of the motion from the municipal manager.
