The Nelson Mandela Metro finds itself in a dysfunctional mess and the intervention of Local Government and Traditional Affairs MEC Sicelo Gqobana is urgently needed.
The municipal manager of the Metro is on suspension over ANC infighting, yet no one has been appointed to act in his place and the municipality is a rudderless ship. An example was today’s (subs: Thursday, 13 August 2009) meeting of the Standing Committee on Budget and Treasury, which had to be cancelled because there was no quorum.
Furthermore, steps are in place to fire all ANC councillors who are not aligned to the “Faku factionâ€. Amidst the factionalism, infighting and marginalisation, no service delivery is taking place and staff shortages are ever increasing.
Today President Jacob Zuma held a conference in Pretoria with all Metro mayors and Premiers and it can only be hoped that service delivery will be improved and the marginalisation of the poor adequately addressed.
In terms of the President’s election promises, service delivery was to be improved and lazy civil servants were to be dealt with. We are yet to see a single person dismissed for under-performance.
The Democratic Alliance urges to MEC to intervene and to get the Nelson Mandela Metro functional and back on a sound footing. I will be asking questions to the MEC as to what steps his department will be taking to rectify the situation.
For further information, please contact Dacre Haddon, MPL on 079 694 3788
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