Durban - CO-OPERATIVE Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Thembi Nkadimeng stands ready to intervene if KwaZulu-Natal MEC Bongi Sithole-Moloi’s attempts to implement a Section 154 intervention in eThekwini Municipality are further delayed.
The intervention was announced by the KZN Cogta Department a few months ago amid concern that there were serious problems in the municipality, including delays in service delivery, poor maintenance of infrastructure and a failure to spend grant funding.
Cogta said experts, including former director-general in the Presidency Dr Cassius Lubisi and the City’s former municipal manager and now local government consultant Michael Sutcliffe, would be sent to assist the metro via Section 154 of the Constitution, which allows for the provincial or national government to provide help to municipalities where there are concerns about governance.
The process of implementation hit a hurdle in May when Sithole-Moloi was blocked by councillors when she arrived at the council to introduce the intervention. The councillors argued that she should have first briefed the Executive Committee before approaching full council. This stalemate fuelled speculation that the governing party did not support the intervention.
Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda last month said they were engaging with the government on the matter following concerns about the terms of reference attached to the Section 154 intervention.
Nkadimeng’s spokesperson, Tsekiso Machike, said the minister was still waiting for the provincial executive to take her into its confidence.
“There is a Section 154 intervention already in place at a national level that has seen a team from the Department and Water and Sanitation and the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent strengthening and supporting the municipality.”
Machike said this was separate from the provincial Cogta intervention that was now delayed at a council level.
“We are waiting for a progress report from the provincial department that will determine whether the minister herself should intervene. The provincial intervention needs to work in tandem with the national intervention.”
Sboniso Mngadi, KZN Cogta spokesperson, said it was unclear when an announcement would be made regarding
Lubisi and his team starting their work.
“The process has been continuing so that our HODs can discuss with Exco so that it can be placed on the agenda of the full council meeting.”
Mngadi said they were waiting for a date to be set, or if there was feedback on further delays. The issue of the intervention was discussed at the weekend’s KZN Alliance Summit that included leaders and members of the provincial ANC, SACP, Cosatu and Sanco. One of the resolutions of the summit was to prioritise meeting Cogta, Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube and President Cyril Ramaphosa “to address this serious state of affairs of eThekwini Municipality”.
“The Alliance Summit overwhelmingly agreed there are serious challenges in the running of eThekwini Municipality,” the summit declaration stated.
SACP provincial secretary Themba Mthembu said the alliance members had resolved to write to Ramaphosa and Sithole-Moloi, urging them to intervene.
“Everything in the metro appears to be falling apart, and action needs to be taken now to prevent an even worse predicament. The whole alliance is appealing to the president, Cogta and the premier for help.”
Mthembu said questions were raised at the summit on what had happened to the Section 154 intervention.
Cosatu’s provincial secretary, Edwin Mkhize, said the deterioration of eThekwini was raised as a serious concern at the alliance summit.
“If you look at the city and the townships that surround it, there are serious service delivery challenges that are not being addressed. This is due to maladministration, failure to spend grant funding and many other issues including the billing system.”
He said that while last year’s floods had damaged critical infrastructure, many people were not happy with the level of work done to repair the infrastructure.