Councillors bunk Exco

THE Hibiscus Coast Municipality executive committee (Exco) meeting had to be rescheduled because of the number of councillors who were absent.

According to a source, councillors were invited to the KwaZulu-Natal launch of the Back to Basic programme held in Pietermaritzburg.

“When council received the invitation to the event, HCM manager, Max Mbili, requested councillors  honour the Exco meeting as it had been on the calendar since the beginning of the year. Only the speaker, Ronnie Nair and mayor, Cynthia Mqwebu were excused,” said the source.

He added that each councillor was sent at least four smses requesting their attendance at the meeting.

“Even the municipal manager was invited to the launch in Pietermaritzburg, but asked to be excused so that he could attend Exco,” he added.

The meeting had to be rescheduled because councillors present did not form a quorum. Usually councillors sign leave forms ahead of meetings, but in this case leave forms were only received on the morning of Exco.

According to the source, if councillors had followed the rules and reported their intended absence earlier everyone would have been sent smses informing them that Exco had been postponed.

“Department heads had to leave their duties for Exco, and the municipality had paid for catering,” said the source.

HCM spokesman, Simon April, confirmed that the meeting had been rescheduled because of the absent councillors.

“Exco was supposed to sit because council was scheduled to sit next. However two councillors tendered apologies/leave of absence due to various reasons,” he explained.

“Mayors and other relevant councillors were specifically needed to be present at the launch. That then led to the problem of a quorum.”