Africa-Press – South-Africa. The tripartite alliance in KwaZulu-Natal has resolved to meet President Cyril Ramaphosa about the state of the eThekwini Metro, which is on a backsliding governance trajectory.
After a week-long summit, where the three organisations discussed the issue in sessions that were closed to the media, the alliance said it “overwhelmingly agreed that there are serious challenges in the running of eThekwini Municipality”.
Their concerns about the state of the metro, along with their call for a meeting with Ramaphosa, comes a few months after Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Thembisile Nkadimeng gave the greenlight for a Section 154 intervention.
Section 154 allows the national government “to support and strengthen” municipalities’ capacity to handle their affairs and their ability to perform functions.
The national government’s invoking of the support measure has received pushback from some in the eThekwini council, with some councillors having frowned upon the terms of reference.
Cosatu, the SACP and ANC in KwaZulu-Natal have resolved to call a meeting with Ramaphosa, Nkadimeng and Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube.
The eThekwini Metro, which is under the leadership of ANC’s Mxolisi Kaunda, has been in a state of decay that has affected its tourism, which for years had been a big drawcard.
The alliance wants “proper election structures” to be established and launched later this month, to prepare for what promises to be a hotly-contested general election next year.
The alliance drew up 15 resolutions, one of which stated:
In an open session, ANC KwaZulu-Natal chairperson Siboniso Duma criticised eThekwini officials and political figureheads for underspending.
The alliance stated: “As delegates we expressed our concerns about the collapse of service delivery at local level. We hereby resolve that alliance partners in [the] regions must work as a collective to ensure that local government remains the centre of popular participation in the programme of action aimed at strengthening service delivery.
“The delegates agreed that municipalities under the ANC must be at the forefront of service delivery and ensure good governance.”
The summit said it wants alliance leaders to achieve the following:
The delegates resolved to hold accountable all leaders deployed by the ANC in government.
The three organisations also want the establishment of sectoral councils to deal with service delivery issues, and a water and energy summit “to understand the extent to which the crises have impacted our society”.
One resolution focused on the elections.
“[We resolve] that the alliance secretariat must focus on ensuring that proper election structures are properly launched within a month of this sitting, and further monitor the functioning of these structures to ensure a massive win for the African National Congress in the upcoming elections,” the alliance said.
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