Wiseman Khumalo reappointed as MM of CoM

The City of Mbombela has reappointed Wiseman Khumalo as the municipal manager (MM), a position that he had previously occupied from October 1, 2019.

Confirming the appointment, the mayor, Sibongile Makhushe, said the council remains confident that, with a competent management team under the stewardship of Khumalo, the City is set for even greater heights.

Khumalo had competed with two other candidates. According to Makhushe, he was the best candidate and was reappointed as the MM during a special council meeting held in the municipal chambers on Monday, under a five-year performance-based contract from April 1, 2022, to March 2027.

With Mpumalanga’s capital in disarray, political opposition parties in Mpumalanga will closely monitor his performance.

The leader of the official opposition political party, the EFF, Collen Sedibe, said they hope and trust that Khumalo will strive to work and serve the people of Mbombela rather than serve his ANC masters, who delivered him to this position.

“We are concerned though, as the EFF in Mpumalanga, that under his management and the previous council under Sibusiso Mathonsi, there were reports of National Treasury intending to stop some funds due to underperformance and non-compliance by this municipality.

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“The City of Mbombela (CoM) continues to be one of the underperforming municipalities in the province, yet it runs with a huge budget. Corruption and maladministration are what is killing the CoM. The EFF will continue to monitor and oversee to ensure that the new MM delivers on his duties. The EFF will continue to make noise until our communities have access to clean running water, electricity, better roads, flushing toilets, and drainage systems,” he said.

Lowvelder is in possession of an official letter from National Treasury to Khumalo, which indicates that only 45% of the municipal infrastructure grant (MIG) has been spent in the past financial year.

The Treasury indicated that it intended to stop funding the municipality due to this underperformance and non-compliance with regard to MIG legislation.

According to the deputy director-general of intergovernmental relations, Malijeng Ngqaleni, more than R300m was allocated to CoM according to the approved National Development Plan of the municipality, and it was supposed to use the funds before the end of its financial year.

She added that R17.3m of the MIG was supposed to be used to eradicate municipal infrastructure backlogs in poor communities to ensure the provision of basic services such as water, sanitation, roads and community lighting.

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The regional bulk infrastructure grant was R8m, and the integrated national electrification programme R19.2m.

All this money will return to the Treasury unless the MM writes to it and explains why it was not spent.

The DA caucus leader in Mbombela, Robert Dlamini, said they noted the MM’s appointment, and they expect him to perform in terms of service delivery and budget planning. He needs to improve the financial condition, since it is in a bad situation, he needs to sort out the Eskom debt, and he must make sure that general managers perform.

“We also want him to come up with a clear plan on how he is going to deal with the dilapidated infrastructure,” he said.

Ken Robertson, a FF Plus councillor at CoM, said they were satisfied with the procedures leading to the appointment of the MM. Although he came recommended, Khumalo has a huge task ahead of him.

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“The MM is the accounting officer for the administrative wing in the CoM, thus it is his responsibility to correct the flaws within the municipality starting with financial discipline with its financial affairs. Huge salary bills due to excessive overtime does not seem to go away. A lack of finances or cash flow results in non-payments to service providers, and whatever finances there are, seems to be focused on the outstanding Eskom account

“It is Mr Khumalo’s responsibility to implement the decisions taken by council, but also his responsibility to ensure that there is not even one cent of revenue wasted. If there is, we will be there to make sure that it gets addressed,” he said.

Khumalo said having been with the municipality even in the previous administration, has reiterated his commitment to teamwork and also appealed for everyone’s support henceforth.

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