DURBAN - THE eThekwini coalition government is apparently facing challenges due to a communication breakdown between senior executives and officials who are alleged to be ignoring the city’s deputy mayor, Philani Mavundla.
According to one of the executive officials with intimate knowledge of the situation, executives in the coalition government are said to be divided over Mavundla, who is said to be constantly demanding accountability from those who are failing to execute their duties and deliver services to the people.
The source told this publication that there was a WhatsApp working group comprising officials and executives, where important issues relating to governance and service delivery were being discussed, and Mavundla was being ignored whenever he raised questions about the collapsing infrastructure and incompetence shown by officials.
“Among the issues raised by the deputy mayor was the fact that there was a problem with uncollected garbage filling the streets, the increasing informal settlements and also the issue of the metro police not wearing their badges. Mavundla was questioning why there were no programmes to address all these problems.
“When they are not ignoring him, they simply tell him that they hope as chair of the cluster, that he can drive a plan to come up with initiatives to address the problems. In other words, Mavundla must either solve these problems alone or shut up,” the source said.
Asked whether he felt there was a deliberate push-back from his colleagues and whether the coalition was on the verge of collapse, Mavundla said he would soon issue a formal statement responding to the developments.
“All I can say is that failure is not one of my abilities. For now, I am counting my days towards the hundred days in office,” he explained.
Approached for comment, mayoral spokesperson Mluleki Mtungwa said the mayor, Mxolisi Kaunda, was not aware of these allegations and stressed that the mayor expected officials to be responsive at all times on issues of service delivery.
Responding to questions from the Daily News, a member of the executive committee (exco) and chair of Economic Development and Planning, Thanduxolo Sabelo, said the WhatsApp working group was meant to raise issues of service delivery and denied that Mavundla was being ignored.
“We use it as a form of sharing the work and progress of the city; the deputy mayor works very well with us and I can confirm that there is no animosity that exists,” Sabelo said.
However, the leader of the DA caucus and a member of the exco, Nicole Graham, said it was clear that the relationship between Mavundla and the ANC was causing some conflict among the executives.
“It was clear that the ANC was in a deeply compromised position and we always knew this would happen. We made our position clear as the DA that we would meet with all opposition political parties who share our idea of ensuring the city could work better; we have written to every single leader of every single party that is basically not the ANC, we have reached out to them and said ‘Let us meet and talk’,” Graham said.
She added that her party was interested in placing the people’s interest before the party’s and exploiting opportunities in the best interests of the city.
EFF spokesperson in eThekwini, Mazwi Blose, said: “The EFF said from the onset that the marriage of convenience between the ANC and Mavundla's party was unsustainable and will not last in the near future.
“The first sign of the collapse of the coalition was when Mavundla demanded from the ANC to head the committee of human settlements and infrastructure. The ANC caucus was not happy with this but they had to comply because they wanted to hold on to power at all costs,” Blose said.
IFP leader in eThekwini Mdu Nkosi said it was very important for political parties to plan well and not rush going into coalitions because decisions taken from rushed meetings tended to fail.
“Although we do not discuss issues of other political parties, we are aware of the challenges faced by the coalition government in the city.
“We have long said that people must be prioritised and not party politics because our residents must not suffer at the end.
“We have long said the city is known to have resources, and this has given people an impression that there is money; however, this is not true, because the city no longer has money. Hence, we are seeing all the filth in our streets and services not reaching the people,” Nkosi said.
Daily News