DURBAN - OPPOSITION parties have demanded that the “new” process to appoint a municipal manager for the eThekwini Municipality be open, transparent and above board.
This comes after the parties on Monday blocked attempts by the ANC to appoint a municipal manager from a South Coast municipality as the new city boss, saying the process was flawed. They described the appointment process as secretive, adding that this had made it impossible to defend the appointment. They demanded that it should be started afresh. Musa Mbhele, the acting city manager, will continue in his position until the position is filled.
The city manager’s position became vacant when the city parted ways with Sipho Nzuza last year. The post was advertised, and 286 candidates applied.
Allegations emerged last week that the ANC and KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala had discussed who should be appointed. Zikalala denied the allegations, saying this was the responsibility of the municipality concerned.
On Monday, Exco met to discuss the report on the appointment and the matter went down to a vote, with the ANC losing to the opposition. Abantu Batho Congress (ABC) leader Philani Mavundla voted with the opposition. Mavundla, who is the city’s deputy mayor, had attained his position through a deal with the ANC and smaller parties.
The Mercury reported recently that Mavundla was unhappy with the process to appoint the city manager, apparently because he had not been consulted.
DA councillor Nicole Graham said the process should start again and should be open. She called for members of the opposition to be included on the screening panel. She stressed that they were not opposed to any specific candidate, but against the process used.
“The DA maintained from the start that the panel should include members of the opposition,” Graham said. “A proposal to include the full Executive Committee as the screening panel was narrowly defeated by the council in December. The panel (that performed interviews) consisted of two ANC councillors – the mayor and councillor Nkosenhle Madlala – and a member from civil society,” Graham said.
She said before the interviews had been concluded, reports leaked that the ANC’s deployment committee had met and that a candidate had been named.
This was, Graham said, the same candidate whose name had been submitted as the highest ranked candidate by the panel on Monday.
IFP councillor Mdu Nkosi said his party was also concerned about the process and not the candidates.
“We want the process to be started afresh. We do not have any issues with any particular candidate; this was about the transparency of the process. This process has been tarnished by negative allegations of political interference, and we cannot support it,” said Nkosi.
“The rules allow for up to five people to be members of the panel; they do not have to all be members of exco; the process just has to be transparent. The ANC needs to stop their arrogance. We are also members of the executive committee; they should have consulted other council members,” he said.
Approached for comment, Mavundla said it was correct that he did not vote with the ANC at the Exco and council meetings on Monday. “The working relationship between the ANC and ABC, or the entire block that gave ANC the lead partner position, is one that still allows freedom of expression. As to what is to happen to the relationship moving forward, in our view things today are just as they were yesterday,” he said.
He declined to speak on whether he had been consulted, saying he could not comment on something that would have been illegal in any way.
“No one ought to be consulted in this process, me included. It would not assist to have wanted any person when there is a process to be followed. The council voted against the recommendation, not a person,” he said.
In a statement, the ANC maintained that the recruitment process followed all protocols as dictated by the Municipal Systems Act.
“We reject with contempt any insinuation that the ANC interfered with the selection process. We are therefore appealing to anyone that has evidence to this effect to come forward. We also call upon those who are aggrieved about the entire process to challenge it within the ambit of the law,” it said.
It said it believed in clean governance and under no circumstances would it interfere with the processes of selecting candidates. It added that it believed that those appointed in any strategic position should be appointed on merit.
“We refute all allegations that seek to discredit the selection process as nothing but political gimmicks by the opposition. These are desperate attempts to become relevant in the political discourse of the eThekwini Municipality,” the ANC said.
The eThekwini Municipality also defended the process, saying it was above board. “On Wednesday, eThekwini’s mayor will outline a way forward on the process to be followed to fill the post,” said municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela.
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