She said the leaders at the municipality have failed to fulfill what was required of them by the SA constitution – instead opting to concentrate on personal issues.
Premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane has intervened in troubled JS Moroka local municipality in Siyabuswa, saying she will now assume all responsibilities of all executive decisions at the municipality.
Section 139 of the South African constitution gives Tsipane the power to place any municipality under the provincial government control if a “municipality cannot or does not fulfill an executive obligation”.
Her Mpumalanga government will establish a task team that will take all the responsibilities that were assigned to mayor Thulare Madileng and his rival municipal manager Thami Kubheka in terms of municipal systems law, relating to how they ought to perform their duties as officials in a public institution meant to serve people.
Mtshweni-Tsipane’s spokeswoman Sibongile Mkani-Mpolweni said the provincial cabinet held a special sitting Friday 17 January 2020 in government’s Mbombela offices and invoked Section 139(1)(b) of the SA constitution in JS Moroka local municipality – which gives the provincial government the powers to assume all responsibilities.
ALSO SEE: Thulare Madileng and Thami Kubheka go to battle
“The invocation of section 139(1)(b) follows instances of administrative and leadership challenges leading to community unrests, making it impossible for the municipality to perform its constitutional mandates and deliver basic services to the community,” Mpolweni said.
Both Madileng and Kubheka have been engaged in battles since at least last year April, with Kubheka as municipal manager defying Madileng as mayor – while also the courts being used to try find solutions to the battles.
Mpolweni said Tsipane’s intervention is the result of the failure by the municipality to submit records or documents of their work to upper structures, such as to the auditor-general, provincial treasurer, parent municipality, etc, – especially with regards to issues of tenders.
“It hasn’t also met its obligation to comply to the circular 62 of the municipal financial management act that requires municipalities to develop annual procurement plans,” said Mpolweni.
“Municipal infrastructure grant (MIG) records also indicate that the municipality has recorded under-expenditure in its grant allocation,” she said, adding the municipality “has ceased to function effectively, owing to divisions within the municipality”.
“The above factors and the need to ensure consistent delivery of services necessitate the intervention by the provincial Government in accordance with section 139(1)(b) of the constitution,” Mpolweni said.
ALSO SEE: Kubheka puts JS Moroka municipality “in state of paralysis” – Madileng
(edited by MLM)
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