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KZN: KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs revives Ministerial Intervention at Indaka Municipality

Nomusa Dube-Ncube
Nomusa Dube-Ncube

5th August 2015

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The KwaZulu-Natal Government takes a decisive action, aimed at bringing stability at the conflict ridden Indaka Local Municipality.

On the 3rd of August 2015, Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) re-instated section 139 intervention at Indaka local municipality which was terminated in March this year.

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The reason for this extraordinary measure is the recent deterioration of governance and administration at this municipality compounded by the murder of Indaka’s municipal manager last month.

Meeting with Councilors, some officials from this Municipal Council, MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mrs. Nomusa Dube Ncube says “Indaka has unfortunately relapsed into a situation where there are instances of deliberate disregard of the law as well as Cogta advice, collapse of administrative leadership, chaotic council meetings and dysfunctional oversight committees, or the alleged abuse of supply chain management policies”.

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The Department has noted that when the initial section 139 intervention, which had been instituted in 2009, was terminated in March this year, the municipality was showing progress having completed 73 out of 95 key performance areas in its exit strategy. The municipality had also received an unqualified audit opinion from the Auditor-General for the period 2013/2014.

“We at Cogta initially found comfort in the fact that Indaka was going to amalgamate with Emnambithi municipality as part of the upcoming redemarcations planned for 2016 and but even the transitional processes at this municipality have been plagued with irregularities, such as the failure of councillors and officials to participate in the legally constituted Change Management Committee,” said Dube-Ncube.

In addition to these challenges, the Municipal Manager, Sinathi Khumalo, was murdered in cold blood on 16 July 2015 after making serious allegations against several members of the Indaka council. This incident has added to the general volatility at Indaka and made the work of Cogta in assisting the municipality all the more challenging.

“We had no choice but to propose that the Provincial Executive Council should consider re-instituting an intervention in terms of section 139(1)(b) of the Constitution. It is in terms of this intervention that I, as MEC for Cogta, am appointing a ministerial representative to manage the affairs of Indaka municipality,” said Dube-Ncube.

The ministerial representative, Martin Sithole, will undertake all financial management functions and ensure compliance with the relevant local government legislation. The ministerial representative will also become one of the signatories on the municipality’s bank accounts and ensure the implementation of all governance procedures and findings of any forensic investigations undertaken by the municipality or Cogta.

“We at Cogta view our interventions as a helping hand in the spirit of co-operative governance. We are committed to a vision of a functional local government and our interventions in ailing municipalities are undertaken in recognition of the fact that local government constitutes a separate and independent sphere of government,” said Dube-Ncube.

The re-instated section 139 intervention at Indaka local municipality will be in place for the next three months and if the situation does not improve drastically, Government will review the and situation and takes appropriate action to remedy the situation.

 

Issued by KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

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