MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD OVER MUNICIPAL MERGER

UMngeni Municipality has written to formally object to the proposed amalgamation of its local municipal area with that of Impendle Local Municipality and Mpofana Local Municipality.

Following a meeting of the full council, a decision was made to write to the Municipal Demarcations Board (MBD) saying it was against the following:

• Redetermining the municipal boundaries to exclude Dargle Primary School and VD 437773172 from uMngeni and including it in Impendle.

• Redetermining the municipal boundaries to exclude ward three from uMngeni and include it in Mpofana.

• The amalgamation of Impendle,

Mpofana and uMngeni to create one municipality under the Umgungundlovu District.

• A proposal for the entire Umgungundlovu District Municipality to become a category A municipality.

• A proposal for all municipalities within the district, with the exception of Mkhambathini Local Municipality to become a category A municipality.

• A proposal to amalgamate uMshwati Local Municipality, uMngeni, Impendle and Mpofana into one municipality. In a statement issued by the municipality, Mayor Chris Pappas said the proposals, if approved, would significantly affect the uMngeni Municipality and could jeopardise the viability of the municipality, as well as the progress that the new administration was making.

In its objections to the plans, uMngeni said: “The proposed merger ignores the existing and expected patterns of human settlement and migration, employment, commuting and dominant transport movements.

“This could lead to the disruption of existing social and economic relationships, causing confusion and hardship for the people living in these municipalities.

“For example, merging rural and urban municipalities could have a negative impact on rural communities, who may find themselves marginalised in the new entity.”

uMngeni is also concerned about the impact the merger will have on the financial viability and administrative capacity of any new municipality.

“There is no plan or proposal for the allocation of resources and the provision of services,” Pappas said. “This could lead to inadequate service delivery and financial instability, as the merged municipality may not have the necessary resources and capacity to provide essential services to all residents fairly and equitably.

“This could result in further resentment and dissatisfaction among residents. Currently, all three municipalities are struggling to provide adequate services, with Impendle and Mpofana being severely financially distressed.”

uMngeni also argues that the need to share and redistribute financial and administrative resources has not been addressed and that the proposed merger has not taken into account existing and expected land use, and social, economic and transport planning in the affected areas.

“Failure to consider these factors could lead to further problems and complications down the line,” Pappas said. “For example, merging municipalities with vastly different land uses and economic structures could lead to further conflict and inefficiencies.”

The final concern raised by uMngeni is that any merger would impact on the creditworthiness of the municipalities, the existing municipal administrations, their council members and staff.

uMgungundlovu District Municipality Mayor, Councillor Mzi Zuma, said the amalgamation of the three municipalities would result in the equitable sharing of resources among the residents of the three councils, and the reduction of operational costs.

His argument was rejected by the DA’s national deputy spokesperson on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Eleanore Bouw-Spies, who said that amalgamating uMngeni with Impendle and Mpofana was a recipe for disaster.

She added: “Under DA mayor Chris Pappas, uMngeni has settled its municipal debts, extended the basket of free services to the poor and vulnerable, and improved service delivery outcomes.

“It is this functionality that the

ANC wants to collapse through a cynical amalgamation with dysfunctional ANC municipalities.”

ANC Moses Mabhida regional chairperson, Mzi Thebolla, meanwhile, rejected what he called the DA’s ‘propaganda’ around the issue.

He said: “As the ANC, we are not surprised that the DA in this day and age is still defending apartheid’s segregation policies.

“As the ANC, we have always been saying that we will do whatever is necessary to dismantle apartheid boundaries and bring government services closer to our people. Why is the DA still clinging on to boundaries created by apartheid’s spatial framework?”

The deadline to object to the proposals is Friday, April 28.

• Residents wishing to object to the proposals can download the form: https://www.demarcation.org.za/wp-content/ uploads/2023/04/S26_SUBMISSION-FORM.pdf Please include the following: DEM7259, DEM4520_1, DEM4520_3, DEM4520_6, DEM7280 and DEM7345 in your objection and then email it to registry@demarcation.org.za. You will need to complete one form per MBD submission.

Alternatively, you can use the following link: https://umngeni.gov.za/.../S26_SUBMISSION-FORM_Revised.pdf

• Residents can also contact their ward councillors and political parties for assistance with completing the forms.