Piet Retief – The Mkhondo (Piet Retief) Local Municipality is alleged to have failed to co-operate with the Mpumalanga provincial government which is trying to find answers concerning its alleged failure to deliver services to ratepayers.
The municipality, located next to the border between South Africa and Eswatini, was reportedly asked by the MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs in Mpumalanga, Mandla Ndlovu, to furnish his department with certain information and it failed to do so.
Ndlovu wanted the information in order for him to prepare for a meeting he was to have with Mkhondo activists who had written to his office requesting that he and Premier Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane come down to address their service delivery issues.
According to Roqaiyah Omar, an activist who is part of the Mkhondo crisis committee which met with Ndlovu and Walter Mngomezulu, the mayor of the Gert Sibande District Municipality, Ndlovu told them that he was still waiting for the information which he believes can help him understand the state of the municipality before addressing the committee.
The meeting between Ndlovu and the committee took place on August 20 in Piet Retief. That followed several failed attempts to get Ndlovu, Mngomezulu and Mtsweni-Tsipane to come down to address a mass meeting.
“On Saturday, August 20, we met with the MEC of Cogta, Mr Mandla Ndlovu and the district mayor, Walter Mgomezulu, to discuss the memorandum that was handed over and the way forward.
“In the beginning of this, we mentioned that it’s a lengthy process and we stand corrected. Mr Mandla Ndlovu went into depth regarding the whole process and what has already happened and that is that they have requested documents from the municipality in which they were given a period of time and they did not respond.
“Thereafter, they were given an extended period of time and they still failed to provide any documents. Thereafter they sent persons to go to the municipality to investigate all the matters that were mentioned,” Omar said.
Furthermore, Omar revealed that Ndlovu promised them that the issue of service delivery and near collapse of governance in the municipality would be resolved by next month.
“They asked us to give them till the end of September, by then they hope to have the municipality back in order and they will then meet with the community.
“They would prefer it that way, instead of coming to the community and telling them they will be investigating and they will be doing this and that, they would rather let the community know what has been done and what changes have been made.
“They also went into depth on one report that they received and we are awaiting it. We trust that the MEC, Mr Mandla Ndlovu, will get back to us with the positive news we all rightfully deserve.”
The under-fire mayor of the municipality, Mthokozisi Simelane, told IOL on Tuesday that he was not aware of the request from Mpumalanga Cogta.
“I'm not aware of such information or the memorandum,” Simelane said to IOL when asked to dispute or confirm Omar’s version of what transpired at the meeting.
Bheki Maseko, the acting Mkhondo municipal manager, did not respond when asked about the matter, while Lindiwe Msibi, the spokesperson of Cogta in Mpumalanga, promised to get back to IOL and never did.
The Mkhondo Local Municipality has been in the public spotlight for some time after it was alleged that corruption was crippling it.
It again hogged the headlines in July this year when it was alleged that Simelane led a team of councillors and officials to a strategic planning workshop in Durban which cost about R700 000.
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