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ANC Mpumalanga secretary Muzi Chirwa says the process to appoint mayors in four Mpumalanga municipalities is almost complete.
POLITICS
Four ANC-run municipalities in Mpumalanga have been operating without mayors for weeks as the party does internal reshuffling following the elevation of the previous office bearers to the provincial and national government.
The Bushbuckridge, Emalahleni, Chief Albert Luthuli and Dipaleseng municipalities have had no mayors since Premier Mandla Ndlovu announced his provincial cabinet last month.
City Press understands that the mayoral positions were left open as some of the individuals joined the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) and others were seconded to the provincial legislature.
Bushbuckridge’s former mayor Sylvia Nxumalo was sent to the NCOP two weeks ago. Emalahleni’s former mayor, Leah Mabuza, joined the provincial legislature a week ago. Chief Albert Luthuli and Dipaleseng were also affected as their mayors joined the provincial legislature.
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ANC provincial secretary Muzi Chirwa said the delay in the appointment of the replacement mayors was caused by the party’s internal processes, but that process was almost complete.
He said:
With the mayors, we can’t just select anyone. We still must go to a region which must select [a candidate] among those it chooses, and thinks are the best [people for the job]. Then [the name will be] forwarded to the provincial executive committee.
“Those selected need to be taken through the interviews so the best of the three candidates for each municipality can be selected”
“We are at the point that, before the end of this upcoming week, we shall have concluded [the process for] all the municipalities.”
Chirwa said that, by tomorrow, the party would have concluded the interviews.
“The [councils in the] municipalities will be sitting from Tuesday until Friday to appoint their executive mayors,” he said.
“Already three municipalities have done the interviews. We are just remaining with two but, by the end of next Friday, all the municipalities shall have appointed – through their councils – the recommended and approved executive mayors.
“Those new executive mayors are not starting afresh [as the ANC has been in charge.] For them it is to make sure we strengthen service delivery, and we tightened all the systems in these municipalities,” Chirwa added.
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But one of the opposition parties has expressed concern over the leadership vacuum in the municipalities.
An EFF official in one of the municipalities without a mayor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said local government primarily struggled with poor leadership, instability in the councils and poor oversight, weak administration, poor infrastructure maintenance, poor revenue collection and management.
Being without mayors caused more problems, especially for communities in those municipalities.
“Service delivery is already a big issue in these municipalities. If there continue to be no executive mayors, then we will start hearing stories of corruption and funds being looted.
The official said:
We know that will happen again; it will be nothing new.
The delays in the appointments were in fact caused by “infighting for power and positions”, the EFF official insisted.
“That is the main reason it has taken them this long to appoint the mayors.
“These are ANC-led municipalities, and it is all about certain individuals wanting the positions for themselves or for their own people to benefit.”
However, Chirwa was adamant that the municipalities were functioning well, despite not having mayors. He said the retained councillors were leading the municipalities.
“We also have the speaker, the chief whip and committees of council, as well as the entire administration in place.
“So, within this period we don’t think there could be any instability because, even on the issue of service delivery, you have the directors responsible, ward councillors dealing with service delivery issues together with the administration,” he said
“The role of the executive mayor is to provide the overall strategic direction of the municipality [and they are] guided by the legislation.”
Chirwa added that the new mayors would join stable municipalities and forge their way forward to improve service delivery.
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In Mpumalanga, the ANC garnered 51.15% of the votes in the 29 May polls, which accounted for 27 seats in the provincial legislature.
The uMkhonto weSizwe Party became the official opposition in the province after securing 16.97% of the support.
That share of the vote earned it nine seats while the EFF got 13.87% (seven seats) and the DA’s 12.02% share earned it six representatives.
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