The embattled eMadlangeni municipality in Utrecht‚ northern KwaZulu-Natal‚ has been placed under provincial administration following the collapse of governance and service delivery.
KZN cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube informed the Cogta portfolio committee in the Provincial Legislature about the development on Sunday.
“The Provincial Executive has resolved during its recent meeting to place the beleaguered eMadlangeni local municipality under administration following poor governance and administrative collapse which resulted in legally questionable council decisions and the culture of impunity in this council. There is clearly no adherence to the rule of law‚” said Dube-Ncube.
She said this state of affairs had crippled the municipality in its constitutional mandate of ensuring the provision of basic services. Some of the problems faced by the municipality included inconsistent water supply‚ poor state of municipal infrastructure like roads and electricity.
The municipality was virtually operating as a “banana republic”’ where legislative prescripts governing municipalities were not being observed.
“Since the reconstitution of this municipality‚ councillors have been embroiled in infighting and illegal suspensions and hiring of staff without any adherence to the rules and procedures.
“The root cause of troubles at eMadlangeni is political infighting which has resulted in irregular decisions by the municipal council. These include‚ among other issues‚ the suspension of the Municipal Manager and the appointment of an Acting Municipal Manager who did not meet the requisite requirements for the job‚” said Dube-Ncube.
“This decision of Cabinet comes after a long period of support by KZN Cogta and coaching by the executive council.
The deliberately orchestrated instability has effectively halted service delivery and exposed the municipality to various risks‚ including litigation‚ corruption‚ fraud and maladministration. Clearly‚ as the provincial government‚ we are not satisfied with the performance of the municipality and we have to act timeously in the best interest of the eMadlangeni community‚” Dube-Ncube added.
She said the KZN Cogta was appointing an administrator who would assume the powers of Mayor and Municipal Manager. One of the immediate tasks of the administrator was to come up with a recovery plan aimed at securing the municipality’s ability to meet its obligations to provide basic services including its financial commitments.
In the August 3 2016 local elections the ANC won a majority of six of the 11 seats on the council.
eMadlangeni municipality placed under administration
The embattled eMadlangeni municipality in Utrecht‚ northern KwaZulu-Natal‚ has been placed under provincial administration following the collapse of governance and service delivery.
KZN cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube informed the Cogta portfolio committee in the Provincial Legislature about the development on Sunday.
“The Provincial Executive has resolved during its recent meeting to place the beleaguered eMadlangeni local municipality under administration following poor governance and administrative collapse which resulted in legally questionable council decisions and the culture of impunity in this council. There is clearly no adherence to the rule of law‚” said Dube-Ncube.
She said this state of affairs had crippled the municipality in its constitutional mandate of ensuring the provision of basic services. Some of the problems faced by the municipality included inconsistent water supply‚ poor state of municipal infrastructure like roads and electricity.
The municipality was virtually operating as a “banana republic”’ where legislative prescripts governing municipalities were not being observed.
“Since the reconstitution of this municipality‚ councillors have been embroiled in infighting and illegal suspensions and hiring of staff without any adherence to the rules and procedures.
“The root cause of troubles at eMadlangeni is political infighting which has resulted in irregular decisions by the municipal council. These include‚ among other issues‚ the suspension of the Municipal Manager and the appointment of an Acting Municipal Manager who did not meet the requisite requirements for the job‚” said Dube-Ncube.
“This decision of Cabinet comes after a long period of support by KZN Cogta and coaching by the executive council.
The deliberately orchestrated instability has effectively halted service delivery and exposed the municipality to various risks‚ including litigation‚ corruption‚ fraud and maladministration. Clearly‚ as the provincial government‚ we are not satisfied with the performance of the municipality and we have to act timeously in the best interest of the eMadlangeni community‚” Dube-Ncube added.
She said the KZN Cogta was appointing an administrator who would assume the powers of Mayor and Municipal Manager. One of the immediate tasks of the administrator was to come up with a recovery plan aimed at securing the municipality’s ability to meet its obligations to provide basic services including its financial commitments.
In the August 3 2016 local elections the ANC won a majority of six of the 11 seats on the council.
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