By Sihle Mavuso
The Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi has promised Scottburgh residents that he will intervene in the Umdoni (Umzinto) local municipality to restore good governance and basic service delivery.
Buthelezi, the MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) in KZN, was addressing residents after three weeks of upheavals. These involved a picket that saw the offices of the municipality closed down for days by the protesting residents.
The protesters also wrote a memorandum asking President Cyril Ramaphosa to send the Special Investigating Unit (Hawks) to investigate some of the projects undertaken by the municipality.
In the meeting outside the municipal offices, Buthelezi expressed his concern at the inability of municipal leaders to deal with the issues raised by the community, which include allegations of corruption and service delivery failures.
The MEC also said the council seemed unable to address the Section 106 forensic investigation done by Cogta in 2018 and its recommendations, which have yet to be actioned by the council.
“The failure to act on the forensic investigation by the council creates an unfavourable perception of how seriously the municipality takes the issue of corruption,” said Buthelezi.
Buthelezi promised to write to the council speaker to convene an urgent meeting to address the matters raised by the community.
“We are committed to seeing the concerns of the community addressed by the municipality. Transparency and accountability are crucial in restoring trust and ensuring effective service delivery,” he said.
He called on the municipality’s exco to exercise proper oversight and not allow matters to go unresolved.
“The Executive Committee must take a proactive role in ensuring that these issues are addressed promptly and effectively.”
Pictured above: Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi meeting with the community on 5 August.
Source: KZN CoGTA
