DR MIKE Sutcliffe is back in eThekwini Municipality to help rescue the City after the provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) placed it under Section 154 intervention.
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Sutcliffe and Dr Cassius Lubisi were appointed by the newly installed Cogta MEC, Rev Thulasizwe Buthelezi, as governance experts to stop the rot in the municipality and revive it from the years-long paralysis of its structures.
Section 154 allows the national or provincial government to support and strengthen municipalities’ capacity to handle their affairs and perform their functions. Sutcliffe and Lubisi’s contracts started on July 1 and will be in place for 12 months.
As the City became increasingly dysfunctional, former mayor Mxolisi Kaunda fiercely resisted calls to place the municipality under Section 154 intervention, insisting that everything was under control.
Buthelezi said the strategic support to eThekwini under Section 154 will include building a clean, effective, efficient, responsive and accountable municipality.
“We aim to restore eThekwini to its former status as the jewel in the crown of KwaZulu-Natal,” said Buthelezi.
He added that the municipality will implement findings of investigation reports and address non-compliance with terms and conditions, including poor project spending. Sutcliffe and Lubisi will provide monthly reports to Buthelezi, and it is hoped that their work will strengthen partnerships between civil society, the business sector and other critical role-players to restore public and investor confidence.
Sutcliffe left eThekwini in 2011 after a nine-year tenure after his contract was not renewed. Lubisi has served as the presidency director-general in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office.
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