Mixed reactions from councillors after Msunduzi municipal boss resigns

Councillors were informed during a council meeting last week that municipal manager Madoda Khathide had tendered his resignation and would leave the municipality by the end of March.

Pietermaritzburg’s City Hall. File Picture: African News Agency (ANA)

Published Feb 28, 2022

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DURBAN - COUNCILLORS in the Msunduzi Municipality say they were shocked by the resignation of municipal manager Madoda Khathide, saying his departure would exacerbate the instability in the city.

Reacting to his departure, councillors said Khathide was leaving the municipality in an even more precarious position than what he found it in, with debts ballooning and rampaging theft of services including water and electricity.

However, other councillors praised Khathide, saying he had brought stability that would allow the next municipal manager to “hit the ground running”.

The councillors were informed during a council meeting last week that Khathide had tendered his resignation and would leave the municipality by the end of March.

A confidential item was tabled before the council informing councillors that a vacancy had been declared and the council must start the process of finding a new municipal manager. Attempts to reach Khathide were unsuccessful yesterday.

The Mercury understands he will be joining a provincial government department.

He started working in Msunduzi in February 2020, with his contract set to expire in a few months’ time.

Khathide’s term in the municipality has at times been characterised by straight talk when it comes to challenges faced by the council, including slow collections and non-payment of services.

He once called on the council to refrain from hiring senior managers as full-time staff members, saying they should be on contracts as prescribed by the law because being permanently employed impacted negatively on performance.

Recently, he was blunt about the financial situation of the council, revealing that the municipality’s finances were so poor, they prayed every month just to pay the staff.

ACDP councillor Rienus Niemand said that while Khathide had made positive changes in terms of administration, it was disappointing that he was leaving before the municipality could be turned around.

“We have gone from bad to worse. The theft of services is up, the debtors’ book has grown dramatically in this period. It is disappointing though that he is leaving before doing what he came to do there. We were not given a reason why he is leaving.”

DA councillor Ross Strachan said they wished Kathide well with his future plans.

“His sudden departure after a very short stint in Msunduzi is ‘falling into sync’ with every other city manager before him over the past few years, it seems to be the trend. Managers are deployed through cadre deployment, they have to sing to the tune of the regional leadership or they will be short lived.

“I wish him good luck in his new role, we hope he will contribute positively in that role to ensure this province gets back on to a forward trajectory,” said Strachan.

Msunduzi mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla said he was disappointed by Khathide’s early departure, saying under his leadership he had seen improvements in the city.

“There has been significant improvement. He brought stability to the administration, to date we only have one vacancy at senior management that was created recently.

“The city is not as dirty, we expect that there will be positive outcomes when the A-G (auditor-general) delivers her report. We are still faced with financial challenges, but the city has improved,” said Thebolla.

Thebolla said they appreciated the work that Khathide had done, adding that the municipality would not stand in his way if he had found greener pastures.

THE MERCURY