The DA in Victor Khanye Local Municipality was disappointed to witness the flaunting of council practices at the recent council meeting held on December 8.
Racial insults, commotion and factionalism were the order of the day, as the speaker, Cllr Ngoma failed to take control of the sitting.
Despite the tabling of a 1345 page agenda containing numerous service delivery issues, certain councilors were impulsive and showed disregard for council.
It is of importance to note that these council sittings are held to monitor the services provided to the local communities in a financially and environmentally sustainable manner.
VLKM is amongst municipalities with an unfunded budget, meaning their expenditure for this financial year is expected to exceed their projected revenue.
The amounts owed to creditors are alarming. Eskom is sitting at a staggering R617 million and Rand Water is at R294 million. However, the municipality’s executive has not even adopted a mitigation strategy on how these debts will be minimized.
Even more concerning, the MPAC Committee meetings are non-existent. The failure to recognize the importance of this committee means there will be no oversight function performed on behalf of the council.
The DA feels that these are amongst the many issues that should have been prioritized at this council sitting. Our inputs and concerns were not welcome, as tensions rose and unpleasant remarks were directed at us.
Judging by the behavior of some councilors, It was clear that council rules and regulations do not apply to all the members of council in VKLM.
These misfortunes in VKLM indicate that the speaker has failed to execute her fundamental duties which is to structure the legislative function and the executive function in the municipality.
The executive mayor, Vusi Buda failed to exercise his leadership skills as the head of the municipality’s council. Instead, he decided to rule that all 41 items on the long agenda be recommended. He further prevented comments and questions on the items by any councilors.
With residents of this town yearning for service delivery, some councilors are pushing their unscrupulous agendas in council. These are individuals purporting as public representatives in their respective communities.
The DA calls on the municipality’s leadership to prioritize the basic needs of the community and acknowledge the importance of the planning process that takes place in council.