Durban - Questions have been raised about when the Section 154 intervention that was announced for eThekwini Municipality will be put into action.
While the intervention was announced by the provincial Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Department on May 9, almost three weeks later the national and provincial Cogta departments remain mum about what steps have been taken to begin the process.
KZN Cogta had announced that the intervention was to be led by seasoned administrators in former director-general Dr Cassius Lubisi, and former eThekwini municipal manager and experienced local government expert, Dr Michael Sutcliffe.
While the pair were expected to hit the ground running, there has been no sign that they have started interacting with eThekwini’s top brass or been given any terms of reference for their task.
Section 154 makes provision for support by provincial and national governments to assist municipalities to manage their own affairs, to exercise their powers and to perform their functions.
During the meeting of the Cogta portfolio committee earlier this month, senior Cogta official Madoda Khathide indicated that it had been the failure by eThekwini Municipality to spend more than R300 million in grants that prompted the intervention.The municipality failed to spend R322m provided by the provincial government.
Attempts to get progress on the process were unsuccessful, with the national department referring questions sent last week back to the provincial government.
KZN Cogta had also not responded to questions at the time of publication.
In last week’s sitting of the KZN Legislature, Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube, in responding to a question regarding eThekwini, indicated that the province and national government were working together to ensure that full functionality was returned in the municipality, but would not say much more.
IFP MPL Otto Kunene said it was surprising that despite the announcement of the intervention weeks ago, there had been no visible action taken. “These weeks lost without any activity is concerning given the state of eThekwini. This also raises suspicion of whether there was a plan at all before the names and the intervention were made public,” said Kunene.
DA MPL Martin Meyer accused the premier of flip-flopping when there was a clear indication of a crisis in the City. The party has insisted that the City should be placed under administration in terms of Section 139.
“Our province has one metro – and sadly it is not a place to be proud of. Instead, it is awash with sewage, leaving the poor to get their water from heavily polluted rivers. The premier and her Cogta MEC (Bongi Sithole-Moloi) need to act in the best interests of eThekwini and KZN’s people,” he said.
Committee chairperson Zinhle Cele was not available for comment.
Political economist Professor Irshaad Kaseeram, from the University of Zululand, noted how governance in eThekwini had declined over the years, and said the matter demanded the intervention of figures with clout to deal with the crisis.
“Lubisi has performed excellently in areas in which he has been deployed, whether at entities or departments, and there are no doubts about his capacity,” said the analyst.