SIPHELELE NKETO
THE Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has accused the African National Congress (ANC) of interfering in the running of the Matatiele Local Municipality. The EFF alleged that the Regional Executive Committee of the ANC in Alfred Nzo instructed the municipality of Matatiele to postpone all interviews. EFF alleged that the ANC want to place preferred candidates in various positions.
The party further claimed that the post of manager for Public Participating has been reserved for the current Matatiele municipality speaker Nonzwakazi Ngwanya. However, Ngwanya has denied that and said that she was not even aware of such.
She said a motion to stop all employment processes in the municipality was presented to the council as an urgent matter on July 29, but the council rejected the motion.
The EFF Alfred Nzo regional secretary and party leader in the Matatiele Local Municipality Siseko Sikhafungana said that EFF councillors did not want the motion to pass and voted against it. Sikhafungana cited an urgent need to fill all the vacant posts in the Matatiele Local Municipality. He said the delay in filling the posts will hold back service delivery projects.
“Every post is critical. The post of manager for Public Participation needs to be closed for the smooth running of the institution and to benefit members of the public,” he said.
He added that the EFF has written a letter to the municipal manager to fast track the filling of vacant posts. He alleged that cadre deployment has crippled municipalities.
“Where there is cadre deployment, there is no accountability, only favours. The cadre deployment practice compromises professionalism and results in officials not being accountable to the residents they serve. Cadre deployment also leads to corruption and wasteful expenditure,” he claimed. Spokesperson for the ANC Alfred Nzo region Lungisile Mzanywa said that the EFF must stop playing cheap politics. He denied claims that the ANC REC was meddling in municipal operations of Matatiele.
Matatiele Local Municipality spokesperson Ndabuko Masumpa also dismissed the claims and said that: “there is no such decision taken by the council as far as we are concerned and therefore everything is still according to plan.”
