Durban - KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube said there were no timelines in place for the implementation of the Section 154 intervention at eThekwini Municipality, despite serious challenges in service delivery and unspent grant funding.
The intervention was announced by the KZN Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) earlier this year, amid concern that there were serious problems in the municipality, including delays in service delivery, poor maintenance of infrastructure and its failure to spend grant funding.
Cogta said that experts, including former director-general in the Presidency, Dr Cassius Lubisi, and the City’s former municipal manager and now local government consultant, Michael Sutcliffe, would be sent to assist the metro under Section 154 of the Constitution, which allows for the provincial or national government to provide help to municipalities where there are concerns.
In May, councillors blocked the intervention, saying proper processes had not been followed, and the Cogta MEC later interacted with the City’s executive council, but this is where it has stalled.
Dube-Ncube told the provincial Legislature there are no timelines for the implementation of Section 154 at the municipality.
“This will depend on the verification process as well as the work that is undertaken by Cogta, the National Treasury and the magnitude of the identified challenges.
“With the continued challenges in eThekwini we are confident there will be a turn-around.”
She said a Section 154 intervention at the national level was already in place, and this had seen a team from the Department of Water and Sanitation, national Cogta and the Treasury strengthening and supporting the municipality, especially after the 2021 floods.
Dube-Ncube said with regards to why eThekwini Municipality had not been placed under Section 139 administration, there were criteria to be met and the municipality did not yet meet those criteria.
Section 139 of the Constitution authorises the provincial executive to intervene in a municipality when it does not fulfil its executive obligation in terms of legislation.
Opposition parties said the deterioration of service delivery and maladministration at eThekwini would continue unless there was external intervention.
DA MPL Martin Meyer said they did not believe that any intervention committee would be placed at the municipality before next year’s election.
“The premier said there was enough intervention on the table, and we do not believe that the committee with Lubisi and Sutcliffe will happen. The push-back against the establishment has worked, but we are not giving up in our own push to have eThekwini placed under administration,” Meyer said.
IFP Exco member in eThekwini, Mdu Nkosi, said the “premier had indicated indirectly that the Section 154 intervention would not happen”.
“The challenge is that the ANC is divided and cannot speak with one voice. Section 139 administration is needed because people in the municipality face daily electricity, water and sanitation challenges.”
Nkosi said there were no timelines to any of the interventions by the national government, and there was not enough information being provided on what critical challenges were being addressed.