“There is no case where a secondment of an official between two municipalities is illegal.”
Opposition parties in Matatiele Local Municipality has expressed frustration and disappointment over the appointment of a new acting Municipal Manager (MM) Nokhayo Qaba-Zembe. The newly appointed acting MM, who is the Senior Manager: Special Programmes and Communication at Umzimvubu Local Municipality, started on January 15th and is expected to serve until April 15th.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) Chief Whip Wonga Potwana claims that the ANC’s decision to appoint someone from outside Matatiele Local Municipality is unfair, particularly given the party’s assertion that the current managers at Matatiele Municipality do not qualify for the position. The DA’s Chief Whip responded to the ANC’s claim, “I want to state this: ANC members are all liars because previously they used to appoint any of our managers, but today they are claiming that they don’t qualify,” said Potwana. Continuing Potwana said, as the Democratic Alliance, they don’t sit in the interview panels; only ANC members do. “The managers they’re talking about are all hired by the ANC people; they are all ANC members. For instance, the portfolio head of corporate services is a councillor of the ANC,” explained Potwana.
The DA further alleges that the new acting MM is being brought in to set up a system that will benefit certain individuals involved in tenders. According to the DA, “As a member of the DA, personally I will make sure that I get the evaluation reports and the adjudication reports, because what they are going to do is fraud. This is a fraud that they are about to commit,” said Potwana. The DA has written to the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) in the Eastern Cape, expressing concerns about the appointment and requesting intervention. The letter, signed by Cllr W. Potwana, highlights several concerns, including undermining internal capacity, questionable appointment, and governance and legal concerns.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) PR Cllr at Matatiele Local Municipality who is also a Provincial Command Team (PCT) in the Eastern Cape Fundiswa Nyamakazi, has also expressed dissatisfaction with the appointment, citing concerns about the current state of the municipality’s finances and leadership. According to the EFF, the municipality is already facing financial challenges, and the appointment of an acting MM is a temporary solution that does not address the underlying issues. “We hope that she will not be political, she will not advise politically, instead she will be neutral, we hope that she will not make wrong decisions that might end up being detrimental to the municipality, such as accumulating debt,” said Nyamakazi. The EFF accused the previous MM of consistently providing wrong advice, allegedly driven by factional interests within the ruling party. “Every time he would give wrong advice, which we believe was what he was told by his faction,” said the party.
The DA and EFF have vowed to closely monitor the situation and ensure that the municipality is run in the best interests of the people.
The ANC has responded to the concerns raised by the opposition parties, dismissing claims that the party did not follow due process in appointing the acting MM. According to the ANC’s regional spokesperson Lungisile Mzanywa, the council in both municipalities agreed on the secondment of the acting MM in December, which is enshrined in the legislation that governs local government. “There is no case where a secondment of an official between two municipalities is illegal, and the decision was taken by the council, so I’m not sure where the ANC enters into that case, ” explained Mzanywa. The party acknowledged that the municipality has faced administrative instability in the past and emphasized the need for stability and effective administration. “The administration must serve the ideas of the council, which has a social contract with the people of Matatiele, we need to stabilize the municipality and ensure that administration stays out of politics,” he said. The ANC also responded to allegations about the credibility of the acting MM Zembe, dismissing claims that her past dismissal from Alfred Nzo District Municipality (ANDM) in 2015/2016 would make her unemployable. “As far as we understand, Mrs Zembe has been employed in other municipalities after leaving Alfred Nzo District Municipality, meaning that there is nothing blocking her from working, if there are specific issues that make her unemployable, we’d like to know what they are,” said the spokesperson. About the claims that the Qaba-Zembe is there to set the system for tenders so ANC can have funds for local government election campaigns, “ We’re not prophets, we’re yet to see that,” concluded Mzanywa.
