Durban - Several top-ranking officials in eThekwini Municipality have alleged that ANC factional politics have made it impossible for them to carry out their administrative duties for fear of going into the bad books of politicians known to be calling the shots in the city.
“If you are not in favour with the current leadership (ANC), you find you have to work fearing you will step on toes and into traps,” said one senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
Another official described the current situation as having reached “epidemic” proportions, saying they were working in an environment of uncertainty and fear.
“We are afraid to take decisions lest you step on the toes of the ones who are calling the shots,” another said.
The concerned group of officials cite the situation of the city’s chief operating officer, Musa Mbhele, as a case in point in the alleged stifling of certain officials.
“He (Mbhele) is highly qualified and boasts a wealth of experience in local government, yet he is being overlooked for the Acting City Manager position in favour of Sipho Cele, the Deputy City Manager for the Governance Cluster, apparently because the latter is seen to have not been religiously attached to former mayor Zandile Gumede.”
Dismissing these claims, Mbhele said: “The office of the COO is new and capacity is still being built to ensure that it plays its role (in coordinating and streamlining service delivery operations and enhancing cost efficiencies to ensure customer satisfaction).”
ANC provincial spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela painted a more positive picture of the situation at City Hall, also slamming certain senior officials for “failing to focus on their responsibilities”.
Ntombela, who is also a member of the Standing Committee on Legislature Oversight in the province, said there was a clique of officials who had of their own accord decided to pick and choose the leadership they wanted to co-operate with.
“As the ruling ANC, we have found that some senior officials had embarked on a state of impunity, blatantly becoming reluctant to take instruction from the political office bearers,” he said, adding that this culture had trickled down to even junior levels of the administration, citing the recent illegal strike by EPWP workers who were demanding permanent employment by the city.
“Yet, officials are expected to carry out their duties in line with the laws governing municipal administration, systems and governance. It does not matter whether it is James (Nxumalo) or (Zandile Gumede) or (current mayor) Kaunda, who is at the helm,” said Ntombela.
“There was a point when the ANC had to deploy former MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu to lead a special War Room to help improve the affairs of eThekwini because officials were resisting carrying out their duties. We had to zoom in on the city’s administration ourselves,” he said.
Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda, speaking through his spokesperson Mluleki Mntungwa, said as far as he was concerned, there was a professional relationship with all senior managers.
“The city is stable… The mayor has a professional relationship with all senior officials,” he said, adding that business confidence was growing.
Political analyst Thabani Khumalo admitted there were tensions in the municipality between politicians and some seniors in the administrative block, saying this was a culture allowed to grow across the country by the ANC itself.
“The ANC has allowed this to happen for many years as if it was the norm. You would find that each time a new principal was deployed in a structure of government, that they were allowed to get rid of those at the helm of the administration and put their own new persons in place,” he said.
“This should not have been the case as it impacts on continuity, thus affecting service delivery. This has created a situation whereby officials themselves begin to have that fear whenever a new principal comes in.”
With the case of eThekwini, Zandile Gumede came in and tried to entrench herself by putting in her own officials.
“You will then find that any new political head is likely to find some level of resistance from certain officials, as is happening with Mayor Kaunda now because he is seen to be cutting the freedom they had attained in the good old days of Gumede.”