Durban: THE IFP in the embattled Umkhanyakude District Municipality has welcomed the adoption of a report by the the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) yesterday (July 6 2021).
Welcoming the development, Makhosonke Sithole of the IFP in Umkhanyakude said "we hope that the intervention of the NCOP will yield good results".
The ANC's Thokozani Ngema said they would not comment on the matter until they had been fully briefed on it.
The select committee on co-operative governance, water and sanitation adopted a report by MEC of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs in KZN Sipho Hlomuka, on procedural, constitutional and substantive matters related to the invocation of interventions in terms of section 139 (1) (b) of the Constitution in Umkhanyakude District Municipality.
Umkhanyakude Municipality had failed to pass its budget, as required by the law, which the MEC said was concerning.
In his motivation for the interventions Hlomuka stated in the report that there was a frequent and persistent breakdown of council meetings due to internal divisions within the municipality.
He said this was triggered by the suspension of the chief financial officer by the accounting officer, on February 13 2020.
"And again on March 11 due to alleged maladministration, fraud and corruption by the mayor against the accounting officer following the appointment of three security service providers in March 2019," Hlomuka said in the report.
He added that the tensions further escalated on May 28 2020, when the council could not pass the Integrated Development Plan and the budget, due to internal divisions within the majority party.
"These suits of allegations and counter-allegations have led to the approval by the MEC of a section 106 investigation on June 15, 2020, in an effort to get to the bottom of these allegations," Hlomuka's report read.
He also cited the council's failure to formally table four forensic reports, and act upon them accordingly.
In the adopted report, all stakeholders tabled an opinion that supported the section 139 (1) (b) intervention in the district municipality.
The parties included the IFP, ANC, AIC, Samwu and Imatu.
NCOP member Ethel Nkosi said it was concerning that the administrator was seen not to be doing administration work, but was doing political work.
Another member, Carin Visser said: "We cannot run municipalities like we are playing. There are rules to be followed."
Chairperson of the NCOP China Dodovu expressed that all issues concerning the administrator must be attended to by the province.
"We cannot dictate whether to remove or not remove the administrator. We can only make recommendations," Dodovu said.
He added that disciplinary action should be taken against all those implicated in the wrongdoing.
All members of the NCOP agreed that the budget needed to be passed first, with other issues following later.
Hlomuka had earlier emphasised that the department was committed to acting in the interest of the communities of Umkhanyakude, who were faced with a serious risk of their municipality being unable to function.
The Daily News