Speaker’s wish for councillors
She wishes to see councillors working together irrespective of their political affiliation
HER duty is to ensure that councillors operate in a well organized environment and that they work together in delivering services to the community. That is Municipal Speaker, Councillor Eunice KaMajola Zondi.
She is not new to critical Council positions as in 2010, she was appointed Chairperson of the Co-operative Services Unit. In 2011 she was appointed as the Chairperson of Sustainable Development and City Entities until 2019.
In an exclusive interview with this newspaper, she revealed her wishes about her colleagues in the Council.
She said she understands that her job is to keep the Council in a good state and “that depends on how I treat councillors. I do not treat them differently based on their political affiliation because if they are not treated equitably this can cause divisions and conflicts during crucial meetings aimed at changing the lives of the people of Msunduzi.”
KaMajola is part of the team comprising of Mayor Thobella, his Deputy Manilal Inderjit and Chief Whip Vusi Ntshangase who are tasked with creating unity in bringing development and stability amongst Msunduzi residents.
It is known that stability in any council prevails if councillors work together, respect each other which does not imply that they should not engage and debate issues on the table.
The distinction between the speaker of the council and the municipality spokesperson is that the latter disseminates internal news to the public whereas the Speaker chairs the council, works with the councillors on the ways to deliver services to the community and monitors councillors’ compliance with regulations.
“As the Speaker, if I notice that a certain councillor is not performing well, it is my duty to engage them so I can understand the challenges they are facing, if there are any and find ways to assist them.
If we see that a certain councillor was in the wrong, it is my Office that takes disciplinary measures guided by the law,” she said.
She said in the six months as the Speaker, her Office has not received any complaints relating to councillors’ poor performance.
“If you are working in this office, you need to be vigilant because we cannot deny the fact that there are those members of the community who dislike councillors who are elected by the residents. Therefore we always assist such community members and inform them that the point of departure is the councillor’s office because there are protocols that need to be followed,” explains the Speaker.
Her office does not cater only for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) but works together with all other political parties in the Council.
The Speaker says there will always be challenges in the workplace and her office does experience such.
“Some of the challenges we are facing involve members of the community who do not want to work with councilors, which makes it difficult to ascertain if indeed councillors are failing to do their work or it is social dynamics in that area. Ours is not to treat people differently but people need to understand that any councillor exists for the community.”
She said the Office of the Speaker exists for the community and it is for that reason hers is always occupied by members of the community from all 39 wards under Msunduzi.
KaMajola said: “I taught myself that any member of the community that comes to my office to report a problem should not leave without being assisted. It does not necessarily mean that the problem is solved in her or his way but justice should prevail.”
She cited an example of an angry member of the community that arrives at the municipal offices complaining about being overcharged for electricity. According to the Speaker, for justice to prevail relevant municipal employees should be assigned to explain everything to that particular member of the community and sometimes mistakes are on the part of the municipality , therefore that needs to be corrected to the satisfaction of the resident.
Next year, there will be local government elections, which means kaMajola’s term as the Speaker comes to an end and new leadership will be elected.
KaMajola said: “When my term comes to an end next year, it is my wish that I leave behind a united council, councillors that work together and always make use of the Speaker’s Office whenever they have problems in order to get help.
We have different political parties but councillors should know that in the Council we have a common goal to work for the community. Ours is to speak in one voice and render services to the community whether they are EFF or DA but they must know that there is one council with one vision,” concludes the Speaker.