Durban - The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal is again discussing having the collective executive system scrapped in municipal executive committees. This is when parties are represented proportionally.
If the ruling party has its way, abandoning the collective executive system could happen after next year’s municipal elections.
This means a majority party in any municipality would not share power with other parties in the executive committee.
Even mayors in the province’s dozen municipalities would exercise executive authority assisted by their own, appointed mayoral executive committees in the winner-take-all scenario.
Addressing a media briefing on Tuesday after a two-day lekgotla, provincial secretary, Sihle Zikalala, said the decision would “enhance the speedy co-ordination of services to the people”.
“Not a single municipality in KwaZulu-Natal has the mayoral system at the moment. We must address that,” Zikalala said.
He said while the ANC wanted the change to take place next year, the correct procedure would be followed before it became policy in all municipalities.
“You don’t resolve and pronounce, thinking things change. You need to go through internal processes to take that into policy,” he said.
Zikalala later told the Daily News that one of the problems with the current system was that it did not separate monitoring and implementation responsibilities between the ruling and opposition parties.
“Opposition parties want to play the opposition role of monitoring only. When they are in the executive committee, their role is unclear,” Zikalala said.
Opposition parties scoffed at the proposal, saying it was not meant for fast-tracking service delivery.
DA leader, Zwakele Mncwango, said the downside of the mayoral executive system was that it allowed those in power to hide corruption and made it difficult to hold them accountable.
“It is not bad if you have a party that has integrity. Where the ANC governs, there is no transparency,” Mncwango said, adding that the ANC was taking a risk, thinking people would vote for it.
IFP national chairman, Blessed Gwala, said the move was aimed at squandering state funds.
“In that system the executive mayor will have power to take decisions outside council,” Gwala said.
He said it remained to be seen if the ANC would embrace the proposed mayoral system in those councils where the electoral results did not favour it.
Daily News