The IFP notes that the KZN Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) insists upon full municipal accountability for all actions and decisions taken by municipal councils and officials even if this, on occasion, leads to the department taking legal action against municipalities as has recently been the case with Mthonjaneni, Nquthu, Msinga and Nkandla municipalities.
Although, we are not against any intervention by the MEC of COGTA to deal with transgressions but we question her intervention strategy which seems to be political motivated.
As the IFP we were expecting that the KZN MEC of COGTA will apply the similar no-nonsense approach in dealing with dysfunctional municipalities like the uMsunduzi Municipality, eThekwini Municipality and Newcastle Municipality. We therefore challenge the MEC to tell the public why she has not put these municipalities under administration?
The MEC for COGTA is known across the province’s municipalities as someone who will intervene in their affairs in a jiffy or not at all – depending on their political affiliation. The MEC for COGTA always says: “If we are dealing with criminals, we do not see party political colours.” My question is: Will the MEC be willing to look past politics and take action against these municipalities as they continue to paralyse the work of the council with a negative impact on service delivery? We are not against any intervention by the MEC because when the IFP governed in KwaZulu-Natal it had Umsekeli. Umsekeli intervenes immediately when the problems were detected but this ANC led administration waits until the municipalities collapse and become dysfunctional.
Furthermore, if the MEC was competent enough she would have taken a bold stance against protest action by people masquerading as MK veterans who are going around taking over KwaZulu-Natal municipalities threatening to unleash violence if they are not given jobs and tenders. The MEC should not remain silent with arms folded in the face of such a threat to our municipalities. We cannot allow a situation where this government only reacts in a knee-jerk manner after a disaster has occurred. .
The IFP calls on the MEC to stop abusing her powers by only targeting IFP led municipalities.
Issued by:
Mr Blessed Gwala MPL
IFP Leader in the KZN Legislature
078 290 5842
