The man has been accused of not meeting “the requirements” by Mashilo.
The DA in the Victor Khanye local municipality in Delmas has raised the alarm on the appointment of Vusi Magaza as acting municipal manager despite co-operative governance MEC Speedy Mashilo’s recommendation that he should not be appointed.
Mashilo had said that Magaza does not meet the minimum qualifications to be the manager of the municipality.
Mashilo had said that a person appointed as municipal manager or acting “must at least have the skills, expertise, competencies and qualifications as prescribed” and that the council should “consider appointing the second candidate who was recommended in the previous recruitment process,” according to a letter Mashilo sent to mayor Eva Makhabane.
DA councillor in Victor Khanye Diane Bath said despite this Mashilo letter, the municipality went ahead to appoint Magaza.
Mashilo’s reason for not recommending Magaza was based on his police degree. He said the rules said anybody appointed as municipal manager should have a degree in public governance.
Bath said the appointment of Magaza showed the municipality “has no regard for transparent labour practices and ensuring that those at the head of this municipality are suitably qualified for the task”.
“The failing ANC has similarly hired 6 former councillors who also allegedly do not have the necessary skills, qualifications or expertise for their new roles,” Bath said.
She said the “cadre deployment” of the ANC was making it hard for the public to access jobs fairly.
She said the six former councillors are Bheki Shabalala, who got appointed in the Assets Department, Betty Mokwena who was appointed IDP assistant manager, Max Nhlapho and Zonki Zulu as new Control Room Operators at the Fire Department and E. Shabangu and L.N Mlambo as clerks in the housing unit.
Victor Khanye municipality has extensive service delivery issues, Bath said.
“[These issues] can only be solved by ensuring that the municipality is led by suitably skilled and qualified individuals who are committed to serving the people and not their own agendas,” she added.
The municipality was yet to respond to the decision that hired Magaza.
They filled the Millenium Hall in Ackerville as well as the Block B Community Hall in Nkomazi, lighting candlelights and “praying for the unity of the ANC for an overwhelming victory in 2019”.
The Practical Radical Economic Transformation group of Mpumalanga will campaign for the ANC to achieve “overwhelming victory” but wants the political power that the ANC will win next year “translated into the power of the poor”.
The organisation says they will go “to the ground” and mobilise for the “overwhelming victory” of the ANC ahead of next year’s general elections.
They held a prayer session at the Roman Catholic Church in Ackerville, eMalahleni Thursday this week, asking the Lord Almighty to assist the ANC get united and not lose focus on the needs of the poor.
There was also another prayer meeting at the Tonga Block B Community Hall in Nkomazi and both featured pastors who led the two prayer sessions before the organisation’s leader Themba Sgudla addressed both meetings.
Sgudla flew in a navy chopper on Thursday morning to allow himself to address both events.
He said when they campaign and vote for the ANC theirs have “conditions”.
“The situation we are finding ourselves in today cannot be the same after elections and that is the message we want the ANC to hear,” Sgudla said to applause.
“But now we are going to go on the ground and [will] campaign for the ANC. But what we are going to do that is completely different when we campaign for the ANC is to get you people who are sitting here to nominate yourselves and go to Parliament,” Sgudla said.
Sgudla, who early this year threw tantrums at the Mpumalanga ANC and former friend DD Mabuza, threatening to contest elections on his own, now says the organisation will rally behind the ANC of President Cyril Ramaphosa and ensure its “decisive victory”.
He urged PRET members who are also ANC members to nominate themselves in the branches in order to go serve in Parliament and the provincial legislature.
He said if the EFF was able to send poor people to Parliament and legislatures “why not the ANC”.
“If you poor people can nominate yourselves and go serve in Parliament and legislature you will be well placed because you understand the situation better,” he said.
He was accompanied by eMalahleni sub-regional leader Bhuti Mamba and other PRET leaders from Steve Tshwete, Victor Khanye, Thembisile Hani and JS Moroka.
The region says they made certain recommendations that the heads of certain councillors roll in three municipalities.
The ANC in the Nkangala region wants a certain members of its municipal councillors sacked in coming days.
In a statement, regional spokesman Sello Matshoga said a regional executive committee meeting this week noted “serious challenges of leadership” in the Victor Khanye local municipality and “resolved to forward a recommendation to the PEC that both the executive mayor and speaker be redeployed”.
In the Dr JS Moroka local municipality, the ANC says it wants the redeployment and reshuffling of members of the mayoral committee.
In Steve Tshwete, Matshoga said there will also “be redeployment of some of the members of council so as to bring stability in the municipality”.
Matshoga said these were issues of performance after the regional working committee had visited the councils.
He said this follows consultations with branches, where everyone agreed that there was a serious problem in Victor Khanye local municipality.
In Steve Tshwete, the recommendations are that “there should be a constant monitoring of the sub-region by the deployees of the ANC to check if there are improvement of relations between the executive mayor, members of mayoral committee and council caucus”.
ANC national secretary Ace Magashule has said the party is going to maintain a strong visibility amongst people, reporting to voters each and every 3 months government’s progress.
EFF national leader Julius Malema believes new justice minister Ronald Lamola is fairly a good young man, someone who is able to apply his mind correctly.
