Women take the reins in Ngwathe management

The council of the Ngwathe Local Municipality appointed Nonhlanhla Baleni as the new municipal manager (MM) last week.
Opposition councillors from the DA this week said they could not reach a rational decision on the appointment of the new MM because the information supplied was incomplete.
They insisted on more information and postponing the council meeting. This did not happen, resulting in them not attending.
The previous MM for Ngwathe, Mr Bruce Kannemeyer, the first MM for Ngwathe to be appointed permanently and serve his full term of five years, was neither invited for an interview nor included on the shortlist of possible candidates.
His contract with the municipality ended on 31 March, after which the recruitment process started.
The position was advertised in the Sunday Times on 6 February, and applications closed on 25 February.
An appointment had to follow within three months of publishing the advertisement but was delayed by another four months.
In his response to the appointment of the new MM, Kannemeyer said it was clear that Ngwathe’s political leadership had made their decision. Although he was “not considered good enough”, despite 14 years of experience in urban, rural, district and local municipalities as MM, “it is in the best interest of Ngwathe for a new MM to start as soon as possible,” he commented.
In a telephonic conversation, he said the reason the municipality gave for him not being considered was that they had not received verified copies of his qualifications.
This is despite the munici- pality having certified copies of his qualifications since his appointment as MM in 2017, he said.
His lawyer asked the municipality to supply a copy of the minutes of the meeting where the shortlisting of candi-dates was done. He also requested a copy of the minutes of the meeting where interviews were done, in terms of legislation dealing with the promotion of access to information.
On Monday, Mr Kannemeyer said his lawyer had not received the copies and did repeat the request before last week’s council meeting.
Nevertheless, he wished the new MM well in her position and said she should be given an opportunity for the sake of all Ngwathe residents.
Provisions of S57 of the Local Government Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000 stipulate that the employment contract for an MM must be a fixed term up to a maximum of five years, not exceeding a period ending one year after the elections of the next council of a municipality.
The newly-appointed MM had been the executive director of the Sedibeng District Municipality, director of environmental health and emergency services at the Fezile Dabi District Municipality, She was also the operations manager at the City of Johannesburg and superintendent of the waste department at the Metsimaholo Local Municipality.
She has a National Diploma in Environmental Health, a B-Tech degree in Environmental Health, and a Master’s Degree in Disaster Management.
Me Baleni’s appointment means that the Ngwathe Local Municipality is now governed by mostly women, with Ms Victoria de Beer Mthombeni as the executive mayor, Ms N.P. Mopedi as the speaker, Ms P.P. Nhlapo as director of community services and Ms F. Mokgobu as director of corporate services.
Mr T Malunga, director of the technical department, is the only male in a director position, while Mr M. Xulu is the acting chief financial officer.