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The IFP has been vindicated in its long-standing criticism of management practices at the Msunduzi Municipality by the most recent allegations of cronyism in the implementation of the council's employment policy.

"The municipality's jobs-for-pals approach has brought the delivery of essential services to the residents of Pietermaritzburg to a standstill. The time has come for the MEC for Local Government and Traditional Affairs to intervene in this municipality with the same vigour with which her department routinely intervenes in IFP-controlled municipalities," said IFP KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson on finance and public accounts Dr Lionel Mtshali.

The IFP has long called for action on the findings of a two-year old forensic report into mismanagement at the Msunduzi Municipality. The party has also consistently drawn public attention to the municipality's failure to deliver essential services to its residents.

"Most recently, our Councillor in the Msunduzi Council, Mrs Candy Seymour, duly exposed the Council's incompetence and inaction in dealing with the city's landfill sites," said Dr Mtshali.

The IFP is calling on the MEC for Local Government and Traditional Affairs to investigate the implementation of the Msunduzi Council's employment policy and intervene in instances of infighting between the two leading ANC factions which has rendered the council paralysed.

"The only way to raise the staff morale and restore the residents' faith in the municipality at this stage is a direct involvement by the MEC for Local Government and Traditional Affairs in the management and performance of this municipality," said Dr Mtshali.