North West rotates municipal managers to serve greed and power

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I was flabbergasted when the North West provincial government seconded a former municipal manager of the troubled Kgetlengrivier local municipality to the cash-strapped Ramotshere Moiloa local municipality. 

I was flabbergasted because the person appointed to Ramotshere Moiloa municipality had helped to collapse another municipality.

As if that was not enough, a municipal manager of the Ramotshere Moiloa municipality, whose contract ended earlier this month, was seconded to Rustenburg local municipality. 

There is a pattern of rotating these municipal managers from one municipality to another. 

Why does the appointment of municipal managers matter? It matters because they are the heads of the municipal administration and implement council resolutions. Unfortunately, too many municipal managers enable gross malfeasance. 

While we regard municipal managers as good as useless, they are useful tools for their political headmasters because they help to enrich these politicians who are mostly in provincial or national government. In this case, the responsible MEC of local government makes his or her choice or the party’s choice depending on who is more powerful.

The ANC recently elected its provincial leadership and we are already seeing changes from the provincial to local government level. Nono Maloyi, the ANC North West chairperson, ascended to become a member of the provincial legislature last week. This allows him to be appointed as the premier of the province to replace Bushy Maape, who is not really known in the branches of the ANC in the province.

Maloyi is using his political capital to entrench his faction in provincial and local government. The appointment or seconding of these municipal managers will help to boost his faction in the ANC’s December conference in terms of awarding tenders to companies of their choice, which will certainly pay or give kickbacks to their political principals who appointed them to do their dirty jobs.

North West mayors, speakers, and councillors at various municipalities who are not supporting Maloyi’s faction, known as N12, are betting on the court application seeking to nullify the ANC provincial conference, which elected Maloyi and his provincial executive committee. The court verdict will have legal and political implications for the ANC conference. 

They are also betting on the conference reelecting Cyril Ramaphosa to safeguard their political future. Those who support the N12, which is running the province, are also fearful of the court and ANC conference outcomes.

These appointments or secondments by the provincial government have nothing to do with the people they should be serving; it is about political interests.

We will witness the decline of the ANC in all North West municipalities in future elections. This decline stems from the internal wranglings of the party, its under-performance in municipalities and the failure to govern the province.

The growth of parties such as the Democratic Alliance, Economic Freedom Fighters, Freedom Front Plus and independent candidates in the province comes as a result of the internal wranglings in the ANC, which will widen after the ANC’s conference next month. The growth of these parties does not necessarily come from their hard work; the ANC is responsible for their growth. 

Those now voting for parties other than the ANC are not in majority. Many people take “fed-up leave” and abstain from voting or they form civic organisations to fight the party they once loved and grew in.

Kenneth Mokgatlhe is a freelance journalist and writer.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Mail & Guardian.