By BAKANG MOKOTO

3 October 2024 – The Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Public Administration (Traditional Affairs, Human Settlements and Water & Sanitation) said it welcomes the decision by the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), to approve the decision by the Limpopo Provincial Executive to invoke provisions of Section 139 (1) (c) of the Constitution to dissolve the Thabazimbi Local Municipality Council as per the recommendation of the committee.

All nine provinces voted in favour of the motion to approve the intervention.

The Chairperson of Portfolio Committee, Mxolisi Kaunda said, following the extensive engagement with both internal and external stakeholders of the municipality, the committee is convinced that the municipality is unable to achieve the objects of local government as set out in Section 152 of the Constitution.

“The committee is convinced following engagements with both internal and external stakeholders, that there are exceptional circumstances that warrant the dissolution of the municipality as it has proven that it is unable to function and achieve its constitutional obligation in terms of Section 152 of the Constitution.

“This intervention is necessary to bring stability to the municipality and enable better service delivery to the people. Some of the reasons the committee cited as reasons for its recommendation, include the inability of the council to sit and take critical resolutions that enable service delivery,” he said.

Kaunda further said this includes the inability of critical committees such as the Municipal Public Accounts Committee and Municipal Executive Committee to sit, non-functional ward committees which undermines participatory democracy, council’s inability to sit and pass the 2024/25 Integrated Development Planning (IDP).

He added there were also inability to enforce the Code of Conduct against councillors for prolonged and unjustified absence from lawful council meetings and parallel political and administrative structures made it impossible for the municipality to function.

“These and many other reasons are behind the committee’s recommendations, now adopted by the house, that the municipality is dysfunctional and requires a reset that will ensure better and quality service delivery than what they are getting currently,”

“The committee is hopeful that the invocation of Section 139 (1)(c) will put the municipality on the path of recovery and progress. To ensure this, the committee has recommended that the Limpopo MEC of the Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs should furnish the Committee with Terms of Reference of the administrator to ensure that they are geared towards achievement of a viable municipality,” said Kaunda.

He said, also, the committee has called for the administrator to undertake lifestyle audits of senior and middle managers within the municipality and also conduct a skills audit to ensure that the municipality has the right skills.

Kaunda said to ensure accountability and openness, the committee also recommended that the MEC must consider instituting a full forensic investigation in terms of Section 106 of the Municipal Systems Act to investigate all allegations of financial mismanagement, fraud and corruption within the municipality.

“But, most important to the committee is the need to ensure strong oversight over the municipality to ensure that the intervention yields the desired results. It is on this basis that, we have committed and will also engage other committees in the NCOP and National Assembly to conduct post intervention assessment to monitor progress of the municipality after the intervention,” he said.

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