The North West Executive Council (Exco) has approved extension of Section 139 interventions in Ditsobotla and Maquassi Hills Local Municipalities by another six months and a restart of the intervention process in Matlosana Local Municipality.

Although administrators and team of experts in financial management, infrastructure, technical, corporate, strategic management and legal services were appointed for deployment to address governance and administrative challenges within the three municipalities, they were only received in Ditsobotla and Maquassi Hills.

The progress update report presented to Exco by the MEC for Local Government and Traditional Affairs, Manketse Tlhape attributed delayed progress in addressing challenges within the three municipalities to resistance to the intervention and implementation.

Actual intervention in Ditsobotla commenced on the 16th of last month and not in April as resolved by Exco after a second comprehensive assessment report conducted on the insistence of the municipality reconfirmed that the municipality is facing serious governance and administrative challenges. The report was presented to council by MEC Tlhape on the 13th of last month.

According to the MEC’s report, the continued litigation between the Administrator and the suspended Municipal Manager in Maquassi Hills is scheduled to be heard in the North West High Court next week Tuesday.

Interviews to fill vacant senior managers posts advertised by the administrators were allegedly disrupted by some councillors and are part of the challenges that delayed progress in implementing the turnaround intervention plan in the municipality.

According to the report, the intervention in Matlosana which was limited to building capacity and improving financial management and administration capacity in the dysfunctional Municipal Budget and Treasury Office never took off due to objection by the municipality from the time Exco resolved to intervene.

“Calls for implementation of section 154 intervention instead of Section 139(1) b approved by the Minister of Corporative Local Government and Traditional Affairs in Matlosana are uniformed as the former extends the team to be deployed to include officials from national government, “said Premier Modise.-tdn
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