WATCH: ANC wants to rebuild eThekwini after mayoral saga

The ANC has tasked the incoming leadership led by Mxolisi Kaunda with rebuilding the eThekwini municipality as soon as it takes office. Picture: Bongani Mbatha/ African News Agency(ANA)

The ANC has tasked the incoming leadership led by Mxolisi Kaunda with rebuilding the eThekwini municipality as soon as it takes office. Picture: Bongani Mbatha/ African News Agency(ANA)

Published Sep 3, 2019

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Durban - After a four-month political impasse that plunged KZN's biggest city into a political crisis, the ANC has tasked the incoming leadership led by Mxolisi Kaunda with rebuilding the eThekwini municipality as soon as it takes office.

Among the issues the party wants to be addressed is the issue of waste collection and the Eskom debt.

Speaking in Durban on Tuesday after meeting with members of the party's provincial executive committee (PEC) and over 100 councillors from the municipality to tell them that the party national top six has rubber-stamped the decision to fire Zandile Gumede as mayor, Jessie Duarte, the deputy secretary-general, said the next big task is to work for the people.

"The task is to rebuild the integrity of the city, get all the section, proper administrative sections to work properly, get the collection system up and running, make sure that the waste management is handled properly, water provision is handled properly. Deal with the issues outstanding with regard to Eskom. There are a number of matters as well but primarily pull the city back into an excellent administrative core. That is what we are expecting from him and the team," Duarte said. 

ANC deputy secretary general, Jessie Duarte, says the new team to lead eThekwini to rebuild the city. Video: Sihle Mavuso

Pulling no punches, the chairperson of the ANC in KZN, Sihle Zikalala, said the municipality was not doing well under Gumede, saying even giving it 30 percent marks would have been an exaggeration. He hinted that the firing of Gumede and the entire exco was the beginning of the clean up and officials would follow shortly. 

"We can confirm that we found a decline politically and administratively. While politically they would be able to take decisions there would be less implementation. If you say they were performing above 30 percent that would be amazing. Now we are starting at a political level, we are not targeting an individual but we said the collective must withdraw," Zikalala said. 

KZN ANC provincial chairperson, Sihle Zikalala, says this is the begging of the clean up of eThekwini.

Asked about the regional task team that has been rejected as skewed by the Gumede faction, Duarte said the PEC has been tasked with reviewing it and to make changes in the shortest time. 

Political Bureau

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