City still delivering services

No plans for city to be placed under administration

STUNG by allegations of maladministration and corruption, a divided caucus and the prospects of running out of water, the City of Cape Town will not be placed under administration just yet. Local government MEC Anton Bredell said there were no plans to place the City under administration because the municipality was still stable.

The ANC in Cape Town said they have plans to write to Des van Rooyen, Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, to place the City under administration. Bredell however said the process was not so easy.

“One must remember that a municipality can only be placed under administration if they are not delivering services. As things stand now, the City of Cape Town is stable and delivering services, despite what might be going on in the political front,” he said.

The drama started when Melissa Whitehead, executive director for transport, was found guilty of nepotism for hiring two friends. It was further alleged that Whitehead was involved in unfairly advantaging a Chinese company, BYD, to secure a multimillion-rand tender to manufacture 11 electric buses. The allegations came after the reports that Whitehead threatened and coerced members of the city’s bid evaluation committee for the Foreshore freeway precinct to award the tender to a particularly entity.

Whitehead denied the allegations and claimed that the city’s employment and tender processes had been followed. The City also suffered losses of R36 million from its MyCiTi bus service due to theft from staffers. She was suspended by council a few weeks ago.

Mayor Patricia de Lille has also come under fire when councillors within her caucus complained about her leadership style, and made serious allegations of nepotism against De Lille. More recently a Gauteng businessman claimed that De Lille solicited a R5m bribe in order for him to get a tender. De Lille has denied this.

Last week De Lille survived a no-confidence motion by a whisker with the help of opposition parties and some DA councillors who voted for her. The motion was tabled by the DA.

Section 139 (1) (b) of the constitution gives the provincial government powers to dissolve the council when a municipality cannot or does not fulfil its constitutional obligation. It also gives the provinces powers to appoint an administrator until a new council has been elected. This section states that when a municipality does not fulfil an obligation, the provincial executive may take appropriate steps to correct the situation.

Bredell explained that the process can be time-consuming.

“I first have to receive a complaint. Then I will have to write to the City to provide me with reasons as to why I should not take steps to place them under administration. Before I can invoke section 139 of the constitution, I have to go to the national minister and during this time the City could have approached the court on this matter. So it’s a very tedious process,” he said.

A MUNICIPALITY CAN ONLY BE PLACED UNDER ADMINISTRATION IF THEY ARE NOT DELIVERING SERVICES