Michael Sutcliffe/LinkedIn
KwaZulu-Natal's new government has placed the embattled eThekwini province under administration under section 154, just weeks after Mayor Mkolisi Kaunda was recalled by the ANC and redeployed to the National Provincial Assembly.
Former mayor Michael Sutcliffe and former director-general in the presidency, Cassius Lubisi, will lead the intervention team appointed this week by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi.
The move has been welcomed by opposition parties and has been noted by the city, with the Cogta team to “support and assist” the city government in rebuilding eThekwini.
Maladministration, collapsing municipal services and the city's deteriorating financial state are some of the issues the intervention team will be addressing, and Buthelezi introduced the intervention team to city councillors on Thursday.
Mr Sutcliffe and Mr Lubisi were appointed last year following a similar intervention by then Cogta provincial councillor Bongi Sithole Moloi, but progress was hampered by resistance from ANC councillors from eThekwini region.
However, this time, with Buthelezi part of the Inkatha Freedom faction in the KwaZulu-Natal cabinet, the ANC has lost the ability to resist from within its own ranks and intervention is more likely given the shifting political balance of power in the province.
On Friday, ANC eThekwini lister and former agriculture commissioner Cyril Shaba, who was transferred from parliament to replace Kaunda, was sworn in as city councillor, the next step in succeeding Kaunda as mayor.
The party had planned to elect Shaba as mayor on Monday but that was postponed due to ongoing coalition talks between the ANC and the Democratic Alliance (DA) at the national level, with elections now expected to take place by the end of July.
The intervention, made under Article 154 of the Constitution, will enable the team to assess the challenges facing the city and come up with an improvement plan to address them.
It has also been mandated to assist with the implementation of a number of studies commissioned by eThekwini Municipality but yet to be implemented, and to help build capacity to deliver services.
The team will tackle issues related to municipalities' inability to spend on housing and infrastructure grants from the national government. Last year, eThekwini Municipality was forced to return R1.5 billion in housing grant money to the national treasury after failing to put in place a plan to utilise the funds.
The team will remain in place for 12 months and will regularly report to Buthelezi on their progress and any obstacles they face.
A combination of shifting voting coalitions at city level, the appointment of a new mayor and Section 154 intervention could help address the breakdown in service delivery facing eThekwini residents.
DA leader Thabani Mthethwa welcomed the intervention, saying it was “long needed” as Durban was in a “perpetual downward spiral” with uncontrollable debt, erratic service delivery and water and sewerage problems.
Mthetwa said given the extent of the breakdown in services, intervention under section 139, which would have seen the city placed into administration, would have been more appropriate.
With the state's ability to help run the city and guide key decisions, it is hoped that this intervention will mark “the beginning of a turning point in the city's fortunes.”
Mthetwa said Sutcliffe and Lubisi's team had already started work and the intervention “marks a promising start from the provincial unity government”.
A city spokesman said the council was “aware” of the intervention following “support” it had received since 2015 from Treasury and the President's eThekwini Working Group.
“The city always welcomes assistance from other government departments as long as it is in the interest of eThekwini residents,” the spokesman said.
A spokesman said the city would “further engage with Cogta” to ensure the intervention is aligned with existing support programs.
