THE KZN Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) reported recently that the sitting of the Nquthu local council, which was to elect the municipal office bearers was postponed due to security concerns.
‘As Cogta, we are determined to facilitate the long overdue election of municipal office bearers at Nquthu, but we also consider the personal safety of all stakeholders to be paramount so we note that today’s council sitting had to be cancelled,’ KZN MEC for Cogta Nomusa Dube-Ncube said in a press statement.
‘In a very short space of time, our intervention has restored order.
‘We have been looking forward to this meeting in anticipation of a positive outcome at Nquthu, however, the security of all stakeholders is also of paramount importance and cannot be compromised.
‘We cannot ignore security advice and our view is that we are better safe than sorry,’ said Dube-Ncube.
Last Friday, Cogta held an imbizo during which Dube-Ncube updated the community on the progress since the department’s intervention.
‘Toothless’
Meanwhile the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) says they are deeply disturbed that the meeting was postponed.
IFP leader in the KZN Legislature, Blessed Gwala said in reaction that the provincial government is ‘weak, toothless and incapable of providing security to the citizens of KwaZulu-Natal’.
‘By citing security reasons, is this government saying that even when the Legislature is to sit to elect members of the Cabinet and there are threats from somewhere, it will postpone the sitting?
‘By postponing this meeting the MEC for COGTA is sending a clear message that she is doing the bidding of her political masters who are hell-bent on stifling democratic processes.’
He said this was yet another indication there is political interference by the ANC to prevent the IFP from taking control of the Nquthu Municipality.
‘While the ANC plays these shady political games, it is the Nquthu Local Municipality and the Mzinyathi District Municipality that are left without political oversight.
‘These municipalities and its citizens are left in limbo because there can be little or no forward planning for service delivery going into the new year.
‘Surely the democratically elected councillors and those who elected them would like some kind of closure to this protracted deadlock.’
Cogta placed the Nquthu Municipality under administration in October after the council failed to elect its office bearers on five previous occasions.
The rationale behind the intervention was to ensure seamless service delivery to communities in the absence of a functional council.
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