Umdoni Municipality held an urgent media briefing on Tuesday morning this week to address an article shared widely on social media by News24 titled “KZN municipal manager fails to produce undergraduate qualifications.”

Mayor Sibongile Khathi invited local media houses to set the record straight on the claims made in the article. She also mentioned that the article has been detrimental to the municipal manager, Thabisile Ndlela.

“The municipality wishes to highlight that the process of appointing a municipal manager is regulated by the Local Government Municipal Systems Amendment Act 3 of 2022 and due processes are followed as prescribed by Section 7(a) of the Act, municipalities are directed to submit all information pertaining to the appointment process and outcome of the recruitment process to the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Department MEC,” explained Khathi.

“The MEC was then tasked with the appointment after all information and processes have been concluded.”

“All information provided to the municipality was thoroughly checked/vetted; after due processes it was established that the appointment of the municipal manager was in compliance with the key recruitment and selection statutory provisions.”

In terms of the regulations, the competency levels for municipal managers are a Bachelor’s Degree or a relevant qualification registered on the National Qualifications Framework at NQF level 7; and a minimum of five years’ experience at Senior Management Level.

According to the information provided to the municipality, Ndlela holds a B Com degree (Honours) and a B Tech degree.

Khathi stated that the municipality made an enquiry to the Durban University Technology with regards to the qualifications in question and were duly confirmed by the institution.

“She also has seven years of experience in Senior Management positions in Local Government; she meets the academic and experience requirements for the position of municipal manager,” said Khathi.

“It is unfortunate that Thabsile Ndlela has had to endure unnecessary pain and suffering through poor journalism.”

The mayor gave News24 a period of seven days to retract the article made earlier this week.

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