Durban — EThekwini council’s decision that managers will now answer questions from opposition parties on behalf of chairpersons of the committees during council meetings has been met with mixed reactions.
African Democratic Change leader and councillor in eThekwini Visvin Reddy has slammed the ANC-led council’s decision and described it as an admission that the ANC had deployed “incompetent and illiterate” people. The decision was taken in the council meeting recently.
Under normal circumstances, the chairpersons of the portfolio committees are the ones who would account to the council and to the public about the decisions that their units have taken.
Leading the charge against the decision, Reddy accused the ANC of hiding its incompetent cadres instead of firing them. He said that by the decision, the ANC clearly intended to avoid embarrassment as the country gets into election season since these councillors are “a bunch of incompetent and illiterate beneficiaries of the party’s rogue cadre deployment policy”.
“It’s no secret the ANC has once again shown its lack of confidence in its leaders in the eThekwini Municipality, revealing a plague that has long affected the party. Despite having all the resources and senior support at their disposal, many ANC and elected chairpersons of municipal committees have proven to be incompetent, and unable to respond to questions about their portfolios,” said Reddy.
He questioned the decision, saying the chairpersons of committees, who sit on the Executive Committee, receive a salary of nearly a million rand a year, personal secretaries, offices, and direct access to senior officials, yet they cannot provide answers.
Reddy said the council is a political platform, and he did not understand why a staff member would come and face a grilling from politicians while his or her principal earned a fat salary for doing nothing.
“This is a clear breach of rules. Instead of chairpersons responding, senior officials will do so, which is detrimental to citizens because the council is a political platform where elected politicians are required to account.
“The ANC has attempted another feeble cover-up for their debilitated cadres. This is because they are appointed based on loyalty to the party over their abilities. Some cannot even provide coherent responses, leaving citizens in the dark and affecting their livelihoods. This trend of cadre deployment is disastrous and has a vile consequence on ratepayers and citizens,” said Reddy.
One of the chairpersons who spoke on condition of anonymity said it was the wrong decision and would render the chairpersons useless. He said it would be an overreach and asked how chairpersons would chair the meetings of their units if they were not present in council meetings.
EFF caucus leader Themba Mvubu said although he is not against the decision he felt managers should only assist chairpersons to clarify questions of a technical nature, like if councillors ask for figures of expenditure that the chairperson does not know offhand.
The DA, IFP and ActionSA, however, supported the move, saying it would benefit the council since it will be provided with clear answers and be able to get responses directly from people who know what is going on, rather than wait for the chairpersons, who would ask for time to get the answers.
eThekwini Municipality’s spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said: “Last week the Council endorsed Section 27(9) of the eThekwini Municipality Rules of Order By-Law (2014) which makes provision that: “(9) Where questions are submitted to a committee in terms of this rule, the Chairperson must forward a copy of every question to the relevant Department Head and Deputy City Manager, who must ensure that a response is given at the n ext committee meeting. A response must be given by the relevant Deputy City Manager, Department Head or nominated official.”
She said this is not new given that this Section in the Rules of Order has been in existence for over 8 years.
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