Calls for filthy, strike-ravaged Mthatha to be placed under administration are growing.
Residents, business and opposition parties all raised the issue as a distinct possibility after the city, which falls under King Sabata Dalindyebo municipality, was trashed amid a Samwu and Imatu strike last week.
Embattled city bosses turned to the high court for an urgent interdict restraining municipal workers from their protest action, which has resulted in the trashing of several busy streets last week.
Streets like York and Madeira roads, which are the heartbeat of economic activity in Mthatha, became dumping zones for unruly protesters.
Among other things, workers demanded the removal of KSD mayor Dumani Zozo and acting city manager Mbulelo Sigaba, whom they accuse of ruling in divide-and-conquer style.
In their court application the municipality cited Samwu and Imatu members in KSD and 15 others as respondents.
Judge Fatima Dawood called on the respondents to argue their case on February 5, but in the interim granted an order restraining them from interfering with the municipality's right to "administer its own affairs and with its obligations to provide services". The workers were further interdicted from participating in "unlawful protest action".
Imatu regional manager Churchill Mothapo said they were aware of the tensions in KSD, but not of a court case in which they were cited. “We were not served. We never received any documents relating to a court case. We are not aware of an interim order against us.
"We are aware of the issues in KSD and we are engaging our local leadership. We know that there is industrial action by some of our members and those of Samwu and at the moment we are engaging," he said.
Attempts to get comment from Samwu in KSD were unsuccessful. KSD spokesperson Sonwabo Mampoza could also not be reached.
Ratepayers, organised business, hawkers, residents and some opposition parties in KSD called on Eastern Cape co-operative governance and traditional affairs MEC Fikile Xasa to invoke section 139 of the constitution, putting KSD under administration.
Mthatha Ratepayers and Residents Association spokesperson Madyibi Ngxekana questioned why KSD leaders were so silent about the crisis in Mthatha. He said the rotting rubbish strewn on the streets posed “a huge health hazard”.
“They must come and make a public statement so that people can know what’s happening.”
If they did not, the ratepayers would approach Xasa. “They [municipal bosses] have lost control, they must just step down,” he said.
But the resident association’s councillor in KSD, Booi Malghas, told the Dispatch on Tuesday that there was no need for an administrator to take over the running of KSD just yet.
He said the problems were not about lack of capacity, but arose from the unwillingness of ANC leaders entrusted with running the municipality to act. “The problem is the ANC does not want to deal with the leadership. The person they deployed has no capacity.” Malghas slammed what he called interference by the provincial executive of the ANC.
African Hawkers Association president Fundile Jalile said it was high time Zozo packed his bags as he had done nothing but victimise hawkers ever since he assumed the reins.
“People are now shunning our stalls because of the filth on the streets. He must just go.”
OR Tambo district chamber of business president Vuyisile Ntlabati said they would not care if KSD was put under an administrator. “We want to see a solution, whatever the type. There is anarchy here [in Mthatha] which is even affecting the flow of traffic.”
He said the situation was damaging the city’s image and businesses were losing money.
UDM councillor Mabandla Gogo also wants KSD under administration. He says governance at KSD has collapsed.
But DA councillor Raymond Knock argued that placing KSD under administration would not rid it of its main problem, which is the dictatorial style of Zozo and others.
Eastern Cape provincial Cogta spokesperson Mamnkeli Ngam said his department had to support KSD so that it could get its house in order.
Should all efforts fail, he said the MEC would report to the provincial executive committee, which would make a decision on whether an administrator was required.
Ngam said a team from Cogta was sent down to KSD to look at the grievances of the workers...