Several Buffalo City Metro senior councillors face the chop.
The Pumlani Mkolo-led ANC regional executive committee of Dr WB Rubusana, which has control of the metro, has written to the party’s provincial executive committee (PEC), asking for a meeting “soon” to discuss its recommendations on who should be fired from the council’s top positions.
ANC provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi confirmed receiving the letter.
“We are aware that the item of reshuffling the executive of the metro will be part of that agenda,” said Ngcukayitobi.
“At this stage I am not at liberty to speculate about names, but considering the poor performance of Buffalo City Metro, according to the quarterly reports which were tabled before us, we have to make significant changes in that metro to make things happen.”
The Dispatch understands that the submission by the ruling party’s REC in Rubusana was made while the PEC was awaiting a similar report from mayor Xola Pakati on who he would like recalled and who should replace them.
The provincial secretary said Pakati had yet to submit such a report, “which will help the PEC make an informed decision on who to recall,” from the council.
Among those in the firing line is community services mayoral committee head Helen Neale-May, as the city streets were dirty and refuse was not being collected regularly.
Of greatest concern is the metro’s failure to spend several conditional grants two months before the end of the 2017-18 financial year. These grants included the:
Urban settlement development grant – R308m unspent;
Integrated national electrification programme grant – R6m unspent;
Infrastructure skills development grant – R4m unspent; and
Public transport infrastructure and systems grant – R66m unspent.
The metro’s poor performance was also under scrutiny when the ANC elected new leaders last month.
The newly elected regional secretary, Antonio Carels, announced on the last day of the conference that they would recall Pakati, as he was no longer the regional chair.
This was after the incumbent mayor lost the chairmanship to Mkolo with 107 against 120 votes.
ANC youth in the region, who supported Mkolo to take over as chair, want the special programmes head in the council, Xolani Witbooi, and Ayanda Mnyute, the head of safety, demoted. It remains to be seen whether Mkolo’s executive will heed the youth’s call.
Contacted for comment, Pakati said he was busy crafting his own report to the PEC, which would “clearly indicate the city’s main areas of weakness and make recommendations”.
Pakati said: “It is important to consult extensively with affected parties. That is what I have been doing since our meeting which looked into the quarterly reports. The matter will be concluded soon.”
Ngcukayitobi said it would be crucial to consider the recommendations of both the mayor and the ANC REC officials when discussing the changes.
“This particular matter of a reshuffle in BCM is a foregone conclusion.
“It’s a matter of when, and who,” added Ngcukayitobi...