Parties welcome the administration extension period at Mtuba Municipality

THE decision to extend the period of administration at Mtubatuba Municipality has been welcomed by the various political parties.

The KZN Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) announced the decision recently.

Mtuba's governing party, the IFP, said it is not opposed to the Section 139(1) (b) of the Constitution intervention, but has expressed concerns with the appointed administrator, and the recent extension in light of the upcoming national and provincial elections, which the party said could result in a changed provincial legislature. The ANC, EFF and UDM have welcomed the extension of the intervention, saying it is crucial to ensure the embattled municipality is stabilised.

Spokesperson for the

IFP councillors’ caucus at Mtubatuba, Ntokozo Mthimkhulu, said the party’s concerns with the incumbent Dr Siya Ntuli, are publicly known and have been shared on various platforms.

The party even approached the courts to challenge the decision to appoint Ntuli as administrator.

Mthimkhulu said the IFP has issues with ‘the history’ Ntuli has with the municipality because he was municipal manager (MM) when events unfolded that ‘triggered’ the constitutional intervention in 2021.

He added that his party is of the view that Ntuli’s appointment as administrator was ‘unethical’.

Mthimkhulu further said the extension by the PEC of the administrator’s term at the municipality, until October, was questionable because it ‘overlaps’ the minister’s term of office in light of the upcoming national and provincial elections.

He said IFP councillors were of the view that Ntuli’s term should have been extended to 28 May.

“Then after the elections it will be a new story altogether; if the new cabinet or premier finds it reasonable that [Ntuli] should continue, then that will happen,” said Mthimkhulu.

Mthimkhulu accused Ntuli of being ‘all over the municipality’ following a letter the administrator addressed to Council Speaker Sibongile Shezi, Mayor Mxolisi Mthethwa and municipal manager (MM) Thamisanqa Xulu.

In the letter, Ntuli accuses the trio of deliberately collapsing the governance structures at Mtubatuba.

“The tricky thing here that you need to understand is that the [administrator] is not there to deal with the speaker, but to ensure the administration at the municipality is done, with certain tasks done before Council sits,” said Mthimkhulu.

ANC chief whip at Mtubatuba, Mfana Gumede said the extension of Ntuli’s term was welcomed by his party ‘because the situation is the finances are not in a good state’.

Gumede said ANC councillors have on several occasions written to Shezi to raise the concerns outlined by Ntuli in his recent letter, which she has mostly not responded to.

These issues, Gumede said, include no grader at the municipality so roads remained unrepaired.

However, the municipality’s communications manager, Khulekani Msweli said ‘the grader is back and fully functional’.

“We want our municipality to be stable; we want it to have money and be decisive in issues of dealing with service delivery,” said Gumede.

EFF Regional Chair in uMkhanyakude District Sifiso Nkonyane said the extension was the ‘right decision’ because the municipality is ‘led by incompetent individuals’.

Nkonyane accused the

IFP leadership at the helm at Mtubatuba of failing to properly manage funds, and said the EFF hopes the administrator will turn the situation around.

The UDM’s Remington Mazibuko said his party applauds the extension of Ntuli’s term because he still has an important role to play in the municipality.

“If he were to leave now, things would [get] worse and we would [go] back to square one, so as the UDM we applaud this decision,” said Mazibuko.