Mayor’s pledge to work with all
IN HER inaugural speech, eThekwini Mayor Zandile Gumede vowed to work with opposition parties in a bid to make Durban better.
But barely a week into her five-year administration, opposition councillors are already feeling left out.
This comes amid reports of the city scrapping the municipality’s most crucial committee – finance and procurement.
When the eThekwini ANC issued a statement this week announcing the executive committee and heads of committees, the finance and procurement committee was missing.
This crucial committee scrutinises and monitors the city’s financial status and tenders awarded.
The municipality’s exco will be made up of mayor Gumede, her deputy, Fawzia Peer, who will head community emergency services, Speaker Legkoa Mapena and Chief Whip Nelly Nyanisa. Barbara Fontein will head the governance committee; Zamazulu Sokhabase community service, youth and women; Sipho Kaunda economic development; and Mondli Mthembu housing and infrastructure.
Furious opposition members have accused Gumede of paying lip-service to her claim that she would root out corruption and irregular spending by omitting the finance and procurement committee.
Zwakele Mncwango, the DA’s provincial and eThekwini caucus leader, said: “Those committees make recommendations to the executive committee. Exco then deliberates… the committee has the time to interrogate the reports presented by officials. It makes it easier for exco. What Gumede is proposing is that we get rid of the committee.
“Our concern is that she would be taking away the opportunity for councillors to interrogate the reports. Finance is the most critical portfolio in any institution. It’s a contradiction to her stance that she would be fighting corruption,” he said.
Smaller parties would not have the opportunity to interrogate city finances, unlike the ANC, DA and IFP who are all represented in exco, he said. The EFF’s MP for local government, Marshal Dlamini, said his party would oppose the proposal to the bitter end. “There is nothing wrong with the present system. As the EFF, we are here to combat corruption in municipalities and policies. We’ll be against any attempt to move any committee to exco,” he warned.
“Committees are there to scrutinise issues and exco approves or disapproves. Exco is not an operational wing of the municipality. If they want exco to be operational, then it must be restructured and close all committees.”
Mdu Nkosi of the IFP said: “We haven’t been told exactly what’s happening... This will compromise the smaller parties, especially those not represented in exco. I don’t think justice will be done if this responsibility becomes that of exco. If they go ahead with this, then we will end up spending more time and holding more exco meetings,” he said.
ETHEKWINI mayor Zandile Gumede’s 43 promises to the people of the city have everything for everyone. Naturally, there will be cynics who see it as just another politician making promises.
Despite being being disappointed by politicians of all stripes over the years, citizens can ill afford to live with hopelessness. It will take us nowhere.
It is a managerial aphorism that you cannot manage what you cannot measure.
It is encouraging that the mayor has set deadlines for some of the promises, such as filling all critical vacancies by the end of February next year.
Whatever one makes of the promises or the intentions behind them, we now have something solid to hold the mayor accountable for. Some of the promises could have included a little more detail – for example, it is not clear what the mayor means when she says that a speed train between King Shaka International Airport, the Bridge City mall and the inner city is “on the agenda”.
This matter, along with a speed train between Durban and Johannesburg and Durban and Pietermaritzburg, has been on the agenda for many years already.
The city and the mayor need to clarify what she means this time around, because any item can be placed on the agenda without those placing it tying themselves to any related outcome.
As is to be expected, not everyone is directly affected by, or interested in, each of the promises. As citizens and ratepayers, we must identify which of the promises matter most to us, and to pay close attention to how those promises are being brought closer to or further from fulfilment.
It is critical that the ANC as the majority party also plays a constructive role, and does not indulge in intra-party intrigue as we have seen in the past – it will cripple the mayor in her efforts to meet the goals she has set.
In keeping with our role in the 164 years of this paper’s existence, The Mercury undertakes to be the watchdog, the platform and the facilitator of discussions by all stakeholders.
We shall be the platform for city politicians, officials, and organised civil society groups such as ratepayers and civic associations, who have constructive contributions to make in ensuring that the promises are fulfilled.
We hope that the mayor succeeds in as many of the objectives as possible. If she does, our city will be a better place for all to live in, which is what we sincerely hope for – regardless of who is in government.