DURBAN - POLITICAL parties in eThekwini Municipality have spoken out about the type of new city manager needed to lead the province’s only metro, saying the person must be a principled individual who will not bow to political demands.
Opposition parties were sharing their views after the municipality advertised the post. They said they had seen firsthand the negative outcomes when city officials were dominated by politicians. The post is for a five-year term. The term of the previous incumbent, Sipho Nzuza, ended abruptly after he was charged in connection with a tender corruption case related to the awarding of work to contractors for a 2016 Durban Solid Waste tender. Nzuza, along with former mayor Zandile Gumede, councillors and several city officials were arrested and appeared in court after being implicated in allegations of corruption to the tune of R300 million. The matter is set to go to trial next year.
Speaking to The Mercury yesterday, Nzuza, who has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing regarding the tender fraud case, said: “Anyone taking that position, unless there is a clear line between politics and administration, will not succeed. That was one of the biggest challenges I faced there, you would find councillors claiming to be doing oversight, when in fact they are driving the agenda for the administration.
“If one comes into an environment like that, it makes the person employed to do the work look like they are failing to do the job.”
Nzuza said another challenge during his tenure was that without the support of the ruling party, from province to national, it was very difficult for anyone to do his or her job.
At the time, the ANC was the absolute majority in council but it has since lost its hold and now relies on a coalition with smaller parties to push its agenda forward.
He said the person appointed needed to have a vision of what they wanted to achieve.
“It has to be someone with a big vision. When I first came here I came from the City of Cape Town where it is run by the DA and where everything was working. I came here hoping to do the same, I was very disappointed,” he said.
He said in some cases he found the city’s operations were archaic and there was a fear of technology because it might cause job losses. He said some people liked a manual system as they could manipulate it for nefarious means.
Asked whether issues of political interference was part of the problem that led to his current troubles with the law, Nzuza said: “My record speaks for itself everywhere I worked before, there has never been a whiff of wrongdoing.”
The IFP and the DA agreed that the new city manager would need to be a strong character who would put the needs of the city and residents of eThekwini first.
“We need a strong individual who will not bow to political pressure,” said DA leader Thabani Mthethwa.
“What we want is an individual who is apolitical and a person of integrity who can face up to the politicians. It must also be an individual who realises that we have serious service delivery challenges in Durban,” said Mthethwa.
IFP councillor Mdu Nkosi said: “We need a strong character who is experienced and will be loyal to the institution. We need an individual who will know what his job is and bring dignity back to the municipality while addressing all the issues of service delivery and make the city a shining example amongst other cities,” he said.
The advert for the position of city manager shows that the annual total remuneration package would be between R2.5 million and R4m. It states that the individual should be able to provide strategic leadership and direction in order to account for the municipal service delivery, income and expenditure, assets and other obligations as prescribed by legislation and the municipal council policies to ensure an economically viable and accountable administration.
Among the tasks the incumbent would be expected to complete would be the management of service-delivery plans and goals for the provision of human settlements, infrastructure, community and emergency services functions and oversee local economic development strategies. It said the appointment was subject to a positive vetting by the National Intelligence Agency.
Among the qualifications required for the post is a recognised three-year Bachelor degree in public administration/political sciences/social sciences/ law or the equivalent and eight years’ relevant experience at a management level of which at least five years must be at a senior management level.
THE MERCURY