DURBAN - MARTIN Sithole has been appointed as the new administrator of the Msunduzi Municipality following the sudden departure of former administrator Scelo Duma.
The municipality confirmed Sithole’s appointment.
Duma resigned recently, after several years at the helm, on account that the municipality was ready to manage its own affairs.
The statement sparked outrage from opposition benches who said it was far from the truth.
Opposition parties said despite the municipality being under administration, its dire situation had not improved.
They said the city faced numerous basic service delivery failures that include regular water and electricity outages, potholes and an escalation in the theft of water and electricity.
Msunduzi Municipality is under administration for the second time in 12 years.
Some opposition parties had even called for the national government to take over, saying the intervention by the province had failed.
DA councillor Ross Strachan said they welcomed Sithole’s appointment. “The DA in Msunduzi welcomes the immediate appointment of the new Msunduzi administrator, Mr Sithole, following the resignation of the previous administrator.
“A week after the DA had called on the department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) to urgently intervene, an engagement was held between Cogta and National Treasury in terms of the extension of Section 139(1) b intervention in the municipality,” he said.
Strachan said they still want the previous administrator, Duma, to appear before the council and deliver his report and officially handover to the new administrator.