Matatiele plans to block move to KwaZulu-Natal

MATATIELE municipal bosses have vowed to fight the re-incorporation of the ANC-led local authority from the Eastern Cape back into KwaZulu-Natal.

The Daily Dispatch reported last week that the KZN provincial legislature’s ad hoc committee had held a public hearing in Kokstad regarding the possibility of Matatiele being moved back into its jurisdiction.

But municipal authorities in Matatiele held a council meeting on Friday where they resolved to reject the proposal.

Addressing a media briefing afterwards, council speaker Nomasomi Mshuqwana told journalists that the establishment of the municipality in another province would have far-reaching implications for the socio-political and economic wellbeing of the area.

“Our boundaries are supposed to be soft boundaries,” she said.

“If they begin to be the real borders, then there should [be] something abnormal with our system of government. As public representatives, ours is to be able to address that abnormality.”

The speaker argued that what Matatiele needed was serious infrastructural development and facilitation of the emergence of local businesses.

Mshuqwana said

Friday resolved, things:

● That they should reject the proposed amendment bill in its totality;

● As public representatives, they should never allow themselves to undermine cultures and traditions; council had on among other and

● That the deal [between the national ANC leadership and the African Independent Congress (AIC)] was only for political purpose and not for any other matter.

The local authority’s stance comes just a few days after AIC president Mandla Galo threatened to report Eastern Cape leaders to their national counterparts for trying to sabotage the deal.

When contacted on Matatiele’s decision to oppose the re-incorporation of Matatiele into KZN, Galo said the local municipal bosses did not have the authority to decide for the residents of Matatiele.

“Our position is clear – we entered into a memorandum of agreement with the ANC in 2017. They [the municipal authorities] cannot decide for the people.”

The Dispatch reported last week that the Eastern Cape government and Calata House had both questioned the terms of a coalition agreement made by their national structures, saying they could not find convincing reasons for Matatiele to be re-incorporated into KZN. —