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The AbaQulusi (Vryheid) Municipality Mayor, Cllr Mncedisi Maphisa has been accused of allegedly refusing to appoint a Municipal Manager (MM). According to Democratic Alliance’s Francois Rodgers, the decision has seen the municipality come to a standstill.
Rodgers explains Cllr Maphisa’s decision follows the necessary interview process being completed. “All members of the panel agreed on the appointed candidate and the mayor was the chairperson of the panel. It is alleged that the first ranked candidate was not the Mayor’s first choice.”
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Adding to this, the process was then taken to a full sitting of the council, whereby Rodgers stated that the full council was once again unanimous including members of the IFP. Despite this, he emphasised that the mayor refused to sign and appoint the Municipal Manager.
“This has now led to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the municipality finding it difficult to sign off on salaries of municipal employees without approval from the Accounting Officer (Municipal Manager). The council is actually at a standstill, as nothing can be signed without the approval of the municipality manager. For two weeks now, council has been without an Accounting Officer,” he stated.
Furthermore, Rodgers said that if these allegations are true, the DA calls on the IFP to take the necessary steps against their mayor to ensure that he complies with what is now a council resolution.
While stating the mayor had no other option but to implement a council resolution with immediate effect, and accusing the mayor of calling the SAPS to remove the new Municipal Manager from the municipal premises, it appears the situation was not as dire as previously believed.
This comes after the Vryheid Mayor officially welcomed the newly appointed Municipal Manager, Zwelihle Godfrey Dhlamini. Dhlamini commenced his duties on Tuesday morning, 24 May 2022.
Shirking off the allegations made by Rodgers, Cllr Maphisa said Dhlamini’s appointment came with immense excitement due to the new MM’s experience.
The municipality further highlighted that Dhlamini was both the Director of Corporate Services and Acting Municipal Manager of Ulundi Local Municipality.
“He comes with vast knowledge and experience in local government leadership. He is already hitting the ground running to ensure that he steers this train on the right track and is expected to elevate the performance of our Municipality. We know and believe that he is capable and will deliver on the mandate of the Municipality,” enthused the Mayor.
During his acceptance speech, Dhlamini said, “I am very honoured to have been afforded this opportunity and I will be doing my level best to ensure that I deliver on the mandate of the Municipality.”
Additionally, Dhlamini further highlighted that as the Vryheid Municipality had been operating without a Municipal Manager since September 2021, relying on Acting Municipal Managers, he had a lot to focus on.
“Now, this means a lot needs to be done. I will be meeting with all senior management so that they can give me the status of their departments. I will also meet with the middle and lower management, so that I can have a clear picture of where we need to make improvements or which strategies are working. The aim is to make AbaQulusi one of the best performing municipalities in the Zululand district,” he concluded.
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