The Democratic Alliance-run uMngeni (Howick) local municipality in the Midlands has raised concerns regarding what it called interference by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube.
Mayor Chris Pappas said the premier’s imbizo which is scheduled for July 15 at Mpophomeni stadium smacks of interference by the provincial government.
In a statement, he said correspondence to all district mayors and councillors, the premier invites attendees to an imbizo that aims to “take a decisive action in accelerating service delivery and intervention in uMngeni Local Municipality.”
NEWS: The DA-led Umngeni (Howick) local municipality in KZN Midlands is threatening to legally challenge a politically motivated "intervention" into its affairs by Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube. According to the municipality’s Mayor, Chris Pappas, the Premier wants to host an imbizo pic.twitter.com/Mgu6IrGS0T
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) July 11, 2023
He pointed out a number of things he termed as irregularities.
“The premier has used a ward councillor to book and pay for the venue for a provincial government event, this is highly irregular as the protocol and good financial management dictates that the officials in the office of the premier should coordinate with the municipality,” Pappas said.
“No event application has been received by the uMngeni Municipality and there is already a municipal event taking place at the venue.”
He added that it appears that the event is not a government one, but that of the African National Congress (ANC) organised by the provincial government as led by Dube-Ncube.
"In a document linked to event planning it was revealed that the event is a low-risk event because it is an ANC event and the area is ANC,“ Pappas said.
"This is disturbing considering that the premier is coming in her capacity as an elected representative and not as her party. This is a clear abuse of state resources for party political gain.“
He said some of the matters the premier and her cabinet intend to address do not fall within the ambit of the municipality.
"In leaked information from the premier's office, the purpose of the meeting was said to be motivated by a lack of service delivery around human settlements, water, sanitation, and stalled housing projects,” Pappas said.
“The items listed in the leaked information are all district and provincial competencies. Moreover, there has been no engagement by the premier with the municipality on any of these matters.”
Pappas also raised questions that municipal officials have been summoned to come and answer questions, but there are not told which ones.
"The premier has invited municipal officials from uMngeni to be part of the event to answer questions but has not indicated what the event is about and what questions should be answered," Pappas said, adding that this breaches section 154 of the constitution which speaks to co-operative governance.
He hinted that they may go to court to challenge this "interference".
"I have written to the premier with my concerns and I have asked the municipal manager to prepare an item for a special executive committee around challenging the item legally."
The premier's spokesperson, Bongi Gwala, said the provincial government has an obligation to improve service delivery to all citizens of the province regardless of where they live in the province and it uses izimbizo to create a platform for citizens to interact directly with members of the executive and government.
“To describe an Imbizo as an ‘intervention’ as Mayor Christopher Pappas does, is to deliberately misconstrue Izimbizo in a desperate and substantially illegal bid to protect political power in uMngeni Local Municipality,” Gwala said.
He added that Pappas only dreams up this intention to intervene as a smokescreen of his true intention which is to turn a government programme into a party-political issue and is a blatant interference with the normal work of government.
He also denied that Dube-Ncube was using her position to advance the agenda of the ANC in municipalities where it has lost power.
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