Abaqulusi Municipality: briefing by the Administrator on Progress in the Municipality

• By 16 December 2005, 40% of the budget would have been expended.
• On 23 November 2005, a meeting was called for all stakeholders to attend. The meeting was well attended by all stakeholders, except for the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).
• Some of the IFP youth members tried to disrupt the meeting.
• The administrator was able to meet with the Ward Committees and Community Based Structures to create a working environment.
• Some IFP members requested a meeting with the Administrator for 12 December 2005, but did not honour the meeting. The Administrator wants the IFP to be brought on board as they are the majority party in the area.
• The Integrated Development Plan (IDP) needs refinement, as it did not previously take care of most rural communities.
• The Administrator indicated that a good start has been made and that further progress will be happening in the next 10 weeks.
• The major challenge is to get the communities involved and get the ward committees functioning effectively and efficiently.

• Only 7 ward committees were properly launched previously. Will the other ward committees be launched now?
• For how long will potable water be supplied?
• What happens after the Administrator’s term expires?
• Will the new Council carry on current projects or will they abandon those once the Administrator leaves?
• What is being done to bring the IFP on board?
• What modes of communication are being used to inform communities, except for the newspapers?
• The relationship between the District and the local municipality?
• What mechanism is being put in place to recover the funds that were misappropriated?
• Were there any developments of note happening in rural areas?

Responses:

The Administrator responded as follow:

• The Administrator’s term expires when the new Council is in place.
• Abaqulusi does not have fully functioning ward committees. Ward committees need to be established to review the IDP. A draft budget will be given to ward committees and the new Council for consideration.
• The new Council will need to be intensively trained on their powers and functions.
• The committee were not consulted before and now they are actively playing their part. The business forums are appreciative of the consultation and are playing an active role.
• Potable water provision is undesirable in the long term, and the need for housing projects needs urgent attention.
• Community structures are operating in areas e.g. youth and women groups. The ward committees will have to be set-up in the new-year.
• Securing the safety of the Administrator and the Municipal Manager is being looked at as tensions are rife in the area. Because of this the incumbents could not move about as freely as they would like. The Administrator will pursue fostering better working relations with the District.
• Those individuals that misappropriated funds will be dealt with.
• There are major backlogs in rural areas. The budget indicates that projects were identified but no resources were allocated.

The Committee resolved that Mr Haswell will report back on the recommendations and will implement the proposals that the committee has made.

The Chairperson concluded the meeting and requested the Administrator to brief the committee prior to his term expiring.

Mr Ntuli thanked the delegates for the briefing and wished them well.

The meeting adjourned at 12h30.

Apologies were received from the MEC for Local Government and Housing in Kwazulu-Natal, Mr Mabuyakhulu.

Administrator

Abaqulusi Municipality