Time is limited for Ekurhuleni’s mayor – Action SA

ActionSA says it’s confident Ekurhuleni mayor Sivuyile Ngondwana will be gone by the end of Thursday.

The party filed a motion of no confidence, accusing the mayor and his mayoral committee (MMCs) of poor performance.

ALSO READ: Ekurhuleni ActionSA spearheads bid to remove mayor Sivuyile Ngodwana

The motion follows over the absence of the auditor-general’s report into the city’s finances, with council members accusing the mayor and MMC for finance Nkululeko Dunga of hiding the report.

However, the motion may come unstuck as according to Ekurhuleni, the report had not been released yet.

“We welcome the fact the AGSA has clarified the matter that this report is not yet finalised because there is a dispute currently being dealt with,” the City said early February.

“This should dispel any doubt that was created by baseless and misleading claims that the city had failed to table the report by the 31st of January 2024, as stipulated in the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA). The fact of the matter is that without a report there was nothing to table in Council.”

Ekurhuleni former MMC for Infrastructure Ndzipo Kalipa said as Ekurhuleni’s citizens and activists they believed in supporting the proposed motion by ActionSA caucus leader Siyanda Makhubo was a noble and self-respecting act to do.

Kalipha revealed when he was MMC in the city under the coalition of DA and ANC there were several issues he raised. Kalipa noted “the municipality is rotting to the core”.

He said what they inherited was a system that was destroyed and corrupt.

“The irony was there were consistent clean audits and I picked up the flip flop of those audits. They weren’t talking to service delivery and where was the SRU report?” Kalipa said.

“The problem is bigger than what we think. The mayor must go because he can’t hold his executives accountable and you can’t have a speaker that is absent,” he added.

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ActionSA stated under Ngodwana’s leadership they witnessed the city’s finances deteriorate, with cash on hand at record lows.

“Service delivery grinds to a halt as service providers are not paid. A waste crisis that continues to plague communities,” ActionSA said.

The party claimed mayor was ignoring a council resolution on insourcing as well as failing to implement the lifestyle audit.

It added “his failure to implement the council resolution on hijacked buildings, which continue to pose a health and safety risk for unsuspecting residents”.

Kalipa said service providers aren’t getting paid because the municipality was insolvent.

“Sub-contractors aren’t getting paid and this is what leads to strikes in places like Tembisa. Money goes to politicians pockets and lifestyle,” Kalipa explained.

He noted the real problem with Ekurhuleni “is political manipulation of administration”.

“The leaders there serve a political mission and not the people. They are unethical and lack professionalism.” Kalipa said.

Ekurhuleni residents said were losing hope as mayor’s future is uncertain.

ALSO READ: Ekurhuleni waste woes deepen

Speaking to eNCA, residents from Tembisa said they have held meetings addressing their service delivery issues but to no avail.

Xolisa Mnisi from Tembisa Forum said waste had not been collected in Tembisa.

“We can’t sit with waste that we have paid for to be collected. We are going to collect [it] and go to municipal building and leave [it] there so [it] doesn’t become our problem but the municipalities,” Mnisi explained.

The city has been plagued by late payment of service providers and a corresponding lack of service delivery.

Makhubo said following the programming committee meeting on Friday, they were one step closer to seeing needed change in city.