By Sibusiso Mboto
Three IFP-run municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal have been taken over by administrators, giving the party the dubious distinction of having presided over all five municipalities in the province to be so badly run that provincial intervention was required.
Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Nomusa Dube on Monday announced the takeover of the Indaka (Ladysmith), Umhlabuyalingana (near Jozini) and Ukhahlamba (Bergville) municipalities, warning that councils risked being dissolved if they did not get their houses in order.
The IFP municipalities previously taken over by the department were Abaqulusi (Vryheid) and Utrecht.
Monday's announcement follows hearings conducted by joint sittings of the finance and co-operative governance portfolio committees in October, which recommended that the MEC take tough action on the municipalities.
The Mercury has learnt that the announcement of the takeover was scheduled for last week but was shelved at the eleventh hour to allow for consultations with the affected municipalities.
According to Dube, the drastic action was prompted by, among other things:
- R14-million that could not be accounted for by the Umhlabuyalingana municipality and allegations of nepotism, corruption and fraud.
- R20-million meant for housing developments that was used to finance other operations in the Ukhahlamba municipality.
- Procurement irregularities reported and confirmed by investigations.
- An adverse opinion from the auditor-general, which is reserved for structures that do not have documentation to explain their expenditure;
- An R8.4-million deficit accumulated by the Indaka municipality after a cash flow problem.
- Municipalities that have no capacity to raise their own revenue, but appointed senior managers who together took 51 percent of the council budget in salaries.
Dube said the move was not a witch hunt, but should be seen "as interventions as a means to turn around the fortunes of the municipalities and restore the people's confidence in them".
She said she had held meetings with the executive committees and councils of the affected municipalities. The leadership of the councils, she added, had accepted the interventions in good spirit.
"Should there be any council that refuses to co-operate or to take appropriate action, I will be left with no option but to revert to the provincial executive council and request that the interventions be changed into one which means that the councils will be dissolved," she warned.
Finance committee chairperson Belinda Scott welcomed the move.
IFP national organiser Albert Mncwango also applauded the move, calling on the councillors in the affected municipalities to co-operate with the department.
Mncwango said the party was committed to working with the department to ensure that the situation at the municipalities improved.
- This breaking news article was supplied exclusively to www.iol.co.za by the news desk at our sister publication, The Mercury.
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