Durban - KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nomusa Dube Ncube read the riot act to new councillors on Tuesday, warning them to avoid squandering public money on luxury cars and overseas trips.
Addressing the new councillors at a councillors’ workshop in Durban on Tuesday, she warned that they should not concern themselves with perks of office and should concentrate on the job they were elected for.
Mayors have often been accused of splurging public funds on luxury cars.
“Do not demand new furniture or luxury cars. This is not about going on overseas trips or sleeping in hotels, because that is not what you are there for. This is about delivering services to the community and changing lives.
“If you were to come to my office you would be shocked because of the condition of my furniture. I do not need furniture because I am never in my office. If you change one life that is what local government is about,” she said.
Dube-Ncube said councillors should focus on their oversight role, saying failure in that regard often resulted in protest. Corruption and maladministration were the source of failures at local government level.
She took issue with councillors who failed to hold community meetings, who failed to update communities on service issues and those who allowed corruption by officials.
Dube Ncube said because of lazy councillors and lying officials, who failed to carry out their duties, some municipalities had had to pay millions of rands that they could not afford in lawsuits.
“It is important to understand your constitutional obligation so you can see the seriousness of what you are supposed to carry out in your role. If you are not discharging those responsibilities, it means you have failed and you have violated your oath of office.”
She said their oversight role included attending council meetings, reading the agenda and coming to meetings prepared.
“Some councillors come to meetings and you see them tearing the plastic off the agenda. Some come to sleep. In some areas there are mayors who do not do their jobs for months at a time. Then we wonder why the people are marching against the municipality.”
Dube-Ncube said councillors needed to crack the whip.
“You need to scrutinise every line on the council agenda and you need to hold the officials to account.”
She said municipalities needed to consider their revenue collection plans when building low-cost houses. While the low-cost houses were necessary and part of the government agenda, they should not be the only housing priority, as the municipalities still needed money to function.
“The building of low-cost houses alone, without the middle-income homes that will be able to pay for rates, is not sustainable. The municipality needs to have a look at that issue so they can generate revenue.
“The municipality pays for everything. If the people are not paying for water, the municipality still has to pay the water boards; if people do not pay for electricity we still have to pay, so it is important that the municipality evaluates its policies when it comes to housing.”
The Mercury