HIGHVELD – Some councillors implicated in the Section 106 forensic report investigation form part of the new mayoral committee.
On the other hand, locals are curious to know what powers the newly elected executive mayor and mayoral committee will have since the Govan Mbeki Municipality was placed under administration.
Mr Nhlanipho Zuma was elected as the executive mayor by the ANC-caucus after the opposition parties walked out on Thursday, 26 November.
The opposition parties were against the election of an executive mayor and some alleged that it was unconstitutional.
Mr Sibusiso Hlolweni, Sapromo leader, said the ANC did not form a quorum.
He said the council constitutes 63 members and to form a quorum they needed 32 councillors present.
“I was the 32nd member after opposition parties staged a walkout. After I went out, the ANC requested a caucus and only 31 councillors of the ANC were left in the meeting. The caucus took more than an hour, therefore it means the ANC-councillors did not form a quorum after they reconvened for the meeting.
“This makes the election of the mayor unconstitutional.”
Immediately after his election, Mr Zuma announced his mayoral committee which included Ms Thandi Ngxonono, the former executive mayor who is implicated in the forensic report, as the MMC for Planning and Development.
Mr Sakhile Mahlangu is now the MMC for Finance and Mr Dan Nhlapho is the MMC for Technical Services responsible for Energy.
Ms Betty Ndaba is back in the mayoral committee now as the MMC for Water and Sanitation after she was dramatically reshuffled by former mayor Ms Ngxonono before her resignation.
Ms Thandiwe Zulu is the MMC for Corporate Services, Mr Anthony Makhaye was appointed as the MMC for Community Services and Ms Nomkhosi Zulu is the MMC for Special Projects.
The Democratic Alliance is also concerned with the recent election of an executive mayor, who has also appointed a mayoral committee while the municipality waits for the appointment of an administrator by the provincial CoGTA as stipulated by section 139 (b) of the constitution.
This will make having an executive mayor and a mayoral committee under the current circumstances, redundant and irrelevant.
According to Ms Ciska Jordaan, DA-caucus leader, the MEC for CoGTA stated on video to the public that there is a collapse in governance, there is a collapse in financial management and there is a collapse in service delivery and that there is no need for an executive authority since the province has taken over the powers for the next six months.
“As the DA, we concur with this view and are of the opinion that appointing an executive mayor and a mayoral committee would only result in wasteful expenditure to pay out huge salaries and further political interference.
“The DA had therefore walked out of the council meeting on Thursday, 26 November as we refuse to participate in the continuous willful destruction of the Govan Mbeki Municipality and, in the effort to work with other opposition parties, to leave the council without a quorum.
“All indications are that either the alleged intervention undertaken by the provincial legislature into the decrepit state of affairs of the Govan Mbeki Municipality is a ruse designed to calm the public.
“Either that, or the ANC in Govan Mbeki is suffering from a psychological difficulty which can only be described as delusions of grandeur in its search for more money to loot and a way to cover up pertinent aspects of ongoing investigations.
“They reward all those individuals who are implicated in the section 106 report with promotions,” concluded Ms Jordaan.
