Three-way merger - the decisions
Merged unit called Enoch Mgijima
THE name and headquarters of the new municipality resulting from the merger of Lukhanji, Inkwanca and Tsolwana have been decided while the head of administration will be decided by the Political Change Management Committee (PCMC) with the guidance of the Technical Change Management Committee (TCMC)
The PCMC is headed by Chris Hani District Municipality (CHDM) executive mayor Mxolisi Koyo and comprises political representatives from the three affected municipalities. The TCMC is headed by CHDM municipal manager (MM) Moppo Mene and comprises officials. Koyo, who doubles as the designated spokesman for the merger, said interaction with internal and external stakeholders had begun.
Relevant committees, as prescribed by the cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC Fikile Xasa, were formed to ensure the smooth flow of processes and comprised representation from all affected municipalities. The work streams committees include a finance work stream which must look at issues such as financial systems of the municipal- ities and come up with a recommendation for one viable system, financial statements and bid-related processes.
He said the legal and corporate services will look at the consolidation of policies from all municipalities, assessment of by-laws and harmonisation thereof and staffing issues. The technical and engineering committee will focus on the rationalisation of the assets as reflected in asset registers, the consolidation of the grants including the municipal infrastructure grant. Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and communications will look at consolidating projects that are being implemented in line with the IDP processes and branding of the new entity, among others.
Information flow to the affected communities took place in various forms, which included face-to-face meetings, media statements, advertisements and utilisation of Vukani and Lukhanji community radio stations and Radio Algoa, Koyo said.
Various platforms were utilised in the call for participation in the naming, with staff meetings and notice boards internally and newspaper adverts in six different newspapers and 10 days of radio advertisements carried by the three radio stations. Koyo said radio talk shows, website updates, social networks and Amalgamation News (a
‘The name
was overwhelmingly
agreed upon’
newsletter that has been developed for purposes of communicating the merger) were also used.
“All the names received were presented and motivated for in a consultative forum comprising stakeholders from the three merging municipalities. The name of Enoch Mgijima was overwhelmingly agreed upon. Enoch Mgijima was a religious and a community leader of the Israelites and Ntabelanga respectively. He fought against forced removals that led to the killing of more than 200 people in what is known as the Bulhoek Massacre of 1921,” Koyo said.
He said consultation with the Mgijima family was underway and a memorial lecture on Enoch Mgijima was scheduled for January 28 in Queenstown. “Queenstown was proposed as the seat for the new amalgamated municipality (EC139). The motivation for this decision was the strategic location of Queenstown as a centre of the new municipality and the district with requisite infrastructure and transport linkages to the markets and ports and the Liberation Heritage routes that all connect to Queenstown,” Koyo said.
Queenstown was the district economic hub with a potential for growth and employment creation through secondary and tertiary benefits. “The social mobility trends recognise the above, where people move from small towns, either in search of employment or preferred living conditions as their status changes. This proposal was referred for public comment. No contrary proposal was received,” Koyo said.
On the issue of the interim municipal manager, Koyo said a decision had not yet been made, adding the PCMC, with the guidance of the TCMC, would make a decision on this.