Durban — The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has taken over the political administration of eThekwini Municipality, citing clashes between the entity’s political oversight and its administrative work.
Announcing the decision in a media briefing on Tuesday, the party’s KZN secretary, Bheki Mtolo, said the decision was taken at the two-day provincial executive committee meeting.
He said at this stage, the intervention would focus on issues of governance in the municipality.
Mtolo said the ANC in the province did not want to delve into the Section 154 intervention that was announced in May as the matter was still being processed by the three spheres of government (local, provincial and national).
He said the ANC was guided by the party’s constitution, under which it would now directly supervise the work of the ANC caucus in the eThekwini Metro.
Mtolo also slammed the City’s decision to spend R1.7 million on a party to “thank” the hard-working staff, adding that the party was not against the idea but had an issue with the amount of money that would be spent.
It has since emerged that about R4 000 would be allocated to each person to spend on the municipal awards party.
“Our main focus will also be to sharpen the oversight role played by deployees of the ANC in council over administration and to strengthen service delivery. Sufficient time will be spent by the province sharpening the ANC-led municipality’s intervention to ensure the provision of water, electricity, waste collection, construction of human settlements and job creation,” said Mtolo.
On the face of it, what this means is that the PEC may not only take away political powers but administrative powers, too, as service delivery expectations fall under the capacity of the heads of the various units in the city.
Portfolio committees headed by councillors also play an oversight role. Mtolo added that the PEC took a decision to ensure an ongoing assessment of service delivery in uMlazi.
This will be followed by an imbizo, hosted by the provincial government, led by the premier and MECs.
He said the ANC wanted ordinary members of society to feel the impact of service delivery through improved standards of living in every household.
“The manner in which the municipality is perceived by the public at large and stakeholders is crucial for the achievement of city goals. This includes perceptions about the delivery of municipal services and efforts around socio-economic growth. We want the city to remain the economic powerhouse in the country and create much-needed jobs,” Mtolo said.
Generally, the oversight work of the governing party in municipalities falls within the ambit of the party’s regional leadership while the provincial leadership oversees the work of the MECs in the provincial legislature.
Other insiders who spoke to the Daily News explained that the decision meant that mayor Mxolisi Kaunda and the party chief would be reporting directly to the provincial leadership, rather than to the regional leadership.
Since last year there have been suggestions that the current eThekwini regional leadership were not happy with the re-appointment of Kaunda after the election of the new leadership in the province and other regional structures.
There were rumours that because of Kaunda’s seat in the PEC it was difficult for the regional leadership to hold him accountable. Mtolo, however, denied the rift, saying there were no plans to oust Kaunda.
The intervention appears to have been prompted by delays in the taking over of the administrative work by the section 154 committee brought by the national leadership.
The committee, which comprises the former director-general of the presidency, Cassius Lubisi, and former eThekwini municipal manager Mike Sutcliffe, is yet to be formally introduced after councillors revolted and blocked Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Bongi Sithole from introducing the committee members a few months ago.
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