Durban - The ANC’s eThekwini region wants to gobble up all the executive power in KwaZulu-Natal’s sole metro following a resolution that the city adopt a mayoral executive system.
The resolution empowers mayor James Nxumalo to single-handedly appoint political heads of the council and would give the party the power to run the municipality without opposition parties - possibly before the local government elections next year.
The plans were laid bare as the region wrapped up its two-day elective conference at the weekend which saw Nxumalo elevated to the coveted seat of eThekwini regional chairman.
The municipality’s collective executive system would be scrapped and replaced with the mayoral executive system.
The move would see the eThekwini Municipality become the last of the country’s eight metros to adopt the mayoral executive system.
Delivering his closing remarks at the conference on Sunday, Nxumalo said the party had a desire to have the new system in place before the local government elections next year.
The eThekwini Municipality “is the only metro in KwaZulu-Natal and we therefore think that leading towards the 2016 local government elections, we have to make a submission to the provincial leadership of the ANC that it is time for our municipality to be afforded an executive mayor status, because this system makes it easy to deliver services to the people”, said Nxumalo.
According to the SA Local Government Association guideline document “Roles and Responsibilities of Councillors, Political Structures and Officials”, there are three local government categories: the collective executive, the mayoral executive and the plenary executive systems.
According to the document, the mayoral executive system “allows for the exercise of executive authority through an executive mayor, in whom the executive leadership of the municipality is vested”.
The executive mayor is assisted by a mayoral committee, which he has the power to appoint.
The current executive council, which is the highest decision-making body, is made up of 12 councillors. Eight are ANC members, two from the DA in Zwakele Mncwango and Heinz de Boer; the National Freedom Party is represented by Bongiwe Mtshali and IFP by Mdu Nkosi.
Nxumalo said changing to the executive mayor system would “not only speed up service delivery but would also ensure that eThekwini Municipality is in line with other metropolitan municipalities in South Africa”.
ANC spokesman Bongani Tembe said if the party’s provincial executive committee accepted the proposal it would mean “people like Mncwango (the DA’s leader in the city) will no longer be part of the influential structures of the metro”.
The chairwoman of the
ANC Youth League in the eThekwini region, Amanda Bani, called for the newly elected regional leadership to come up with time frames for implementation of the proposed system.
“Come 2016 our mayor must be executive,” said Bani.
Political analysts approached for comment offered mixed reactions.
Professor Somadoda Fikeni said the move did not necessarily mean any “profound change” as opposition parties would “not really” be muzzled.
He said: “In essence it may not mean any profound change unless we can examine the actual proposals as to how responsibilities and powers will be distributed. But it, of course, gives a greater role to a mayor with all the executive authorities that come…”
He said the system worked similarly to a cabinet structure.
“They may in the process be inclusive enough, in the way of operation, to include the opposition,” he said.
Political analyst Thabani Khumalo differed, saying the municipality’s current system was better able to “accelerate service delivery”.
“When the exco structure was introduced in eThekwini, diversity was considered. The executive committee had representation from four parties. I think to fast-track service delivery, you need more brains (diversity)… The system that they want to introduce is just going to be a one-party-ruled council.”
He said it had been proved that a multiparty system was more productive for “good and effective governance”.
Mncwango said it was good that opposition parties would no longer be party to bad decisions taken by the majority in exco.
He said the ruling party had a right to choose which system it wanted, but before it came into effect it would have to go through the provincial cabinet and legislature and the National Council of Provinces.
However, the system was undemocratic compared with the current collective executive system.
“This means that now opposition parties will no longer have access to important documents. Currently the media is being deprived of documents. It will be worse with the executive mayoral system.”
The Mercury