The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has warned of making “wholesale” changes, even in the administration of eThekwini Municipality if necessary, to ensure the stability of municipalities.
ANC provincial chairperson Siboniso Duma said the appointment of Cyril Xaba as the new mayor of the municipality is one of many changes that they are willing to make in eThekwini and other municipalities in order to ensure stability and performance.
Duma described eThekwini municipality as a “flagship municipality” that is a “drawcard for investors” in the province.
In a wide-ranging interview, Duma said there are no holy cows as even the most senior staff in the municipal administration who are not performing will not be spared in order to improve services.
Duma, who is also the MEC for Transport and Human Settlements, was speaking to Independent Media editorial and management staff during his visit to the group’s offices on Tuesday.
He spoke at length, ranging from the state of municipalities to the work of his new department and the ANC’s views on the outcome of the general elections, where the party lost power for the first time in 30 years.
On the prospects of the ANC heading to the local government elections in 17 months’ time, Duma said they are laying the groundwork to turn their fortunes around and part of that is to look closely at struggling municipalities.
Deployed ANC leaders will be held accountable, especially for the state of municipalities, he said.
“We are aware of the 2026 (local government elections) which is why in eThekwini you might have seen that we have deployed comrade Xaba who is an NEC member of the ANC, who has cumulative experience, who will understand the dynamics and change the outlook of eThekwini.
“eThekwini is where you attract investors, almost R60 billion in operations and capital budget. You must then be equipped and you must deploy someone who is sharper,” he said.
Even in administration, if the municipal manager is not strong and it is necessary to take them out of the system, that must happen, he said.
“The issue of service delivery among other things is a setback for us. We have achieved a lot in the last 30 years, but some of the things might not have gone correctly. If some municipalities are not strong, we are going to get criticism, that is the strength of the ANC government, to say when things are not going okay.
“It must not be business as usual. All our cadres will come for accountability and assessment, a programme of action has been developed already,” he said.
The ANC provincial leader said heading to the local government elections, the party will be calling on experts in academia as well as its former leaders to provide it with a well researched finding as to what had gone wrong with the previous election.
The ANC had never anticipated the loss it suffered and had never prepared for the scenario where one of its leaders would break away and form his own political party, he said.
Duma also revealed that the ANC believed there are people within its ranks who had actively worked with former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), adding that the party will not be going on a witch-hunt to seek them out.
“But there are people who worked for the MKP and you will see that some of them would be taken out of the system,” he said.
Some of those in the ANC who had worked with the MKP are now trapped inside the ANC at the moment, he said, adding that MKP had not achieved the majority it sought in the elections.
“This means some of those could not cross over. If the MKP had been in the majority, there would have been an exodus in the ANC.”
Some of those suspected were councillors and now had no choice but to stay in the ANC as they needed to draw salaries and feed their families, he said.
Duma touched on governance of the province that is being led through the Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) between the IFP, ANC, DA and the NFP.
There will always be different views and disagreements between the parties, but the GPU will remain stable and functional as the parties involved behave in a collegial manner, he said.
Speaking on how the ANC will function in the GPU, he said at the moment the party is in a survival mode.
“We must survive beyond the 7th term. The environment is no longer natural for us, but I think that we will work.
The ANC will still oppose anything that is not in the best interests of the public.”
The Mercury