INLSA

The Msunduzis new municipal manager, Mxolisi Nkosi.

In addition to ensuring that the municipality complies with the relevant legislation, the new Msunduzi municipal manager, Mxolisi Nkosi, intends taking it upon himself to depoliticise the administration.

Nkosi said he would take action against senior managers who turned a blind eye to employees using their political influence to elevate themselves.

During his first media briefing on Thursday, Nkosi said his priorities would be ensuring compliance with municipal legislation, service delivery and revenue generation.

However, he had found out that some employees were refusing to take instructions from their managers because they had political leverage.

He said it was up to the managers to take action, and if it came to his attention that no action was being taken, he would not fail to discipline the managers.

Nkosi took over the running of the municipality from January, following the withdrawal of an intervention unit which had been put in place at Msunduzi in March 2010.

He said a major challenge facing the municipality related to frequent power outages due to ageing infrastructure and increased loads.

“An infrastructure investment plan has been developed to assist the council to know how much needs to be budgeted for in the next five financial years,” he said.

A programme was already addressing the water loss problem, said Nkosi.

He said that in addition to a new fleet for waste management, it had been decided to use R10 million which had been earmarked for vehicle maintenance to buy new vehicles, especially for electricity, and water and sanitation crews. To date, 70 vehicles had been ordered and were due for delivery.

Waste management, which had also been a concern to residents, had improved, said Nkosi. He added that systems were in place to monitor daily collection schedules. However, the main challenge that needed to be addressed was illegal dumping.

“From now on, we want to be the city of choice- second to none,” said Nkosi, the former municipal manager of Kokstad and political adviser to former co-operative governance MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu. - The Mercury