Bid to sort out city boss mess

THE Buffalo City Metro will have a special council meeting today at which the ruling ANC hopes to remedy the setbacks it experienced at last Tuesday’s meeting.

This follows the appointment of Nonceba Mbali-Majeng to act as municipal manager.

Opposition parties, with the support of 21 ANC councillors, successfully fielded Mbali-Majeng against the ANC’s preferred choice of Ncumisa Sidukwana.

Council chief whip Mzwandile Vaaiboom announced yesterday that Mbali-Majeng had yet to confirm her availability to act as an accounting officer in writing, and “that’s a serious technical problem in this appointment.

“We have to go back to council and fix this,” said Vaaiboom.

The ANC could use the opportunity to put Sidukwana back in the top post, as the 21 councillors who voted against party orders are now facing charges of bringing the ANC into disrepute.

The party’s Dr WB Rubusana regional executive committee (REC) was locked in meetings last night to decide whether to replace Mbali-Majeng with Sidukwana.

The two are both directors who report to the accounting officer.

Sidukwana is the head of special programmes while Mbali-Majeng heads development planning.

But the ruling party’s provincial executive committee had recommended that instead the metro must ask for intervention from cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC Fikile Xasa to second someone from his senior officials to act as BCM municipal manager while the panel is busy trying to find a suitable candidate for the position.

Vaaiboom said: “We don’t necessarily disagree with [Mbali] Majeng, but the municipal council has to fix the grey areas.”