Committee considers request for provincial intervention in Umkhanyakude District Municipality
The Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) is considering the request by the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for COGTA to approve the invocation of Section 139 (1) (b) of the Constitution in the ailing Umkhanyakude District Municipality.
MEC Nomusa Dube today presented to Members of the Select Committee that the KZN Provincial Executive Council (PEC) had previously tried to intervene in addressing challenges facing this municipality through a number of “soft interventions” but said those did not help in improving the affairs of the municipality. MEC Dube said they had also invoked Section 154 of the Constitution but that too did not yield the expected results.
Among other challenges that necessitated the invocation of Section 139 (1) (b) of the Constitution, according to the MEC, included governance challenges where Portfolio Committees, Municipal Public Accounts Committees and Audit Committees are not meeting or functioning as required by law.
The municipality has poor internal controls, thus unable to detect and prevent unauthorised and irregular expenditure. It has also failed to comply with A-G’s recommendations such as production of updated Audit Action Plans. The municipality also has cash flow problems, owing its creditors up to R123 million. The municipality also experienced numerous labour unrests and service delivery protests.
The failure of these previous “soft interventions”, according to MEC Dube, necessitated the PEC to convene on 07 October 2015 and resolved to go for the invocation of Section 139 (1) (b) of the Constitution – an intervention they believe will aid the ailing municipality.
As it is required by the Constitution, approval for the invocation of Section 139 (1) (b) has to be sought from the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) within 180 days of such an intervention having been instituted by the Provincial Executive Council. The NCOP thus has until April this year to apply itself on the matter so as to determine whether or not it approves the invocation of Section 139 (1) (b).
The Select Committee on COGTA, as an extension of the NCOP that is mandated to deal with matters of this nature, will henceforth follow all due processes related to this matter and advise the NCOP accordingly. The meeting details of the Select Committee deliberations over this matter will be announced in due course.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairpersons, please contact:
Temba Gubula
Tel: 021 403 8307
Cell: 078 735 8809
E-mail: tgubula@parliament.gov.za
