Administrator to run 'embattled' Makana Municipality

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

The Bhisho Government says it will appoint an administrator to the embattled Makana Municipality in terms of Section 139 (1B) of the Constitution.

This was announced after Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister, Pravin Gordhan, led a high level team, including Eastern Cape Cooperative Governance MEC, Fikile Xasa, to the Municipality on Thursday.

However, Bhisho stopped short of dissolving the Makana Council.

The Municipality has been plagued by severe service delivery challenges and governance issues, compounded by poor audit outcomes.

On Wednesday, residents, through the Unemployed Peoples Movement and the Public Service Accountability Monitor, delivered an open letter to mayor, Zamuxolo Peter, calling for urgent intervention in the Municipality.

This week, Xasa said something drastic needed to be done about the Makana Municipality, promising swift action.

Department superintendent-general, Stanley Khanyile, says "we met at Makana Municipality today as National, Provincial as well as Local Government. The intention was really to inform the Municipality of our intention to invoke Section 139 (1b) of the Constitution, meaning that as the provincial government of the Eastern Cape we want to now come closer and assist by taking key responsibilities."

"We are of the view that there have been challenges in the Municipality on its own doing some of these things that have been in the media, as well as our own assessment that was conducted that made us come to the conclusion that we do need to come and assist this Municipality," he said.

"Minister Gordhan was in support of this intervention, that it is necessary in order to ensure that we restore confidence, faith and hope of the communities of this Municipality. It's not something we have come that easily. It's something that we feel has to happen. There are a lot that we have done previously to support (Makana). We are now of the view that it is necessary that we rather consider something more radical than the support that we have been providing in the past."

"It is the intervention in terms of Section 139 (1b) of the Constitution which will obviously result in the Administrator being appointed to basically run the affairs the Municipality. It's not Section 139 (1C) which is dissolving the Municipality," said Khanyile.