WHILE the City of uMhlathuze is enthusiastic about being incorporated into a proposed metro, the municipality has conceded ‘it is not ready’ for the massive change before the 2016 local government elections.
The Executive Committee has decided to shelve the move so that it has adequate time to deal with strategic, operational and financial implications in the run-up to 2021.
The proposal is part of Co-operative Governance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s decision to reduce the number of municipalities from 283 to just over 250 countrywide.
The plan would have incorporated the uThungulu District comprising Mbonambi, uMlalazi, Mthonjaneni and Nkandla municipalities into the newly formed metro with uMhlathuze as its core.
However, uThungulu District mayor Thembeka Mchunu told the Zululand Observer last month ‘they were not ready’ in terms of preparation and the demarcation process to adopt metro status.
On Wednesday Municipal Manager Dr NJ Sibeko concurred, adding that a public participation process would follow to inform councillors, traditional leaders, ward committees, the business fraternity and local communities of the demarcation proposals.
The City further resolved that once metro status was supported, the services of an external specialist would be sourced to assist with outlined issues to ensure a smooth transition and amalgamation without compromising service delivery.
Councillors agreed that appropriate action was needed to timeously prepare for the proposal.
uThungulu District Deputy Mayor Thulani Mashaba said while becoming a metro was the ultimate goal, they did not want to integrate into one system prematurely.
‘While the structural arrangements might be easy, we have to question whether we are ready and have the capacity. We do not want to start something when we are not ready and then see a collapse.’
There are currently eight metros in South Africa, with eThekwini being the only metro in KZN. The two additional metros proposed for the province are uMhlathuze and Msunduzi.
Save
According to Gordhan’s municipal savings scheme, the state stands to save a substantial chunk of the R4.4-billion allocated annually to these 30 municipalities when they are collapsed into others. The saving will be mainly on the salaries for top officials, including municipal managers and chief financial officers.
Municipal managers earn between R800 000 and R2-million per annum, depending on the size of the municipality.
Metro managers earn more than R1-million on average, but some small municipalities also pay exorbitant packages. Finance managers are often in the same salary bracket.
