AFTER widely reported shortcomings and calls from opposition parties to dissolve the local municipality, Mtubatuba’s provincial intervention has been extended until the end of the year.
Following a meeting with the provincial cabinet on Monday, Bamba Ndwandwe, Administrator of Mtubatuba Municipality, confirmed the extension of Provincial Government’s intervention until the end of December this year.
Along with Ndwandwe’s contract, provincial intervention was previously scheduled to finish at the end of September. However, after months of the order of business being nothing short of a circus act at the local municipality, Mtubatuba has been given another chance to pull itself out of the woods.
Monday’s meeting confirmed the provincial cabinet’s take-over of Mtubatuba’s valuation roll.
Last month it was reported that management at Mtubatuba Municipality had failed to produce a legally valid valuation roll for the 2014-15 financial year. It has now become the job of the Provincial Cabinet to produce such a valuation roll which will take effect on 1 July 2015.
This means that all taxpayers will pay 2013-14 property rates for the duration of this financial year and the administrator of the municipality will produce a new valuation roll, re-opening it to the public, detailing increased rates for next financial year.
Essentially, the Provincial Government’s seizure of the valuation roll restores the status quo to the year of the valuation roll’s failure.
The provincial cabinet has also taken over the powers of the council regarding staff at Mtubatuba Municipality. This means any staff member undergoing a disciplinary hearing, for whatever reason, will be dealt with directly by the Provincial Government rather than the local municipality’s council.
The main concern of the provincial government, however, is the state of Mtubatuba Municipality’s finances. As confirmed by Ndwandwe in a telephone interview on Tuesday, Mtubatuba has more debts than it has money to pay off these debts. ‘It’s not for me to speculate on where Mtubatuba will be at the end of the year but I’m hoping to see some improvement by October,’ said Ndwandwe.
Currently, Ndwandwe is waiting on Municipal Manager, Siyabonga Ntuli, for the finalisation of the ‘no work, no pay’ mandate regarding strikes. All striking municipal workers were paid for their month-long strike in June which, if goes unchallenged, sets a dangerous precedent for the future.
