Mpuma municipality's powers restored
2010-09-29 21:21
Bloemfontein - The Pixley ka Seme local municipality (Volksrust) is no longer under administration, an Mpumalanga government spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Co-operative governance and traditional affairs spokesperson Simphiwe Kunene said the Mpumalanga executive council had returned all governing powers to the municipality.
The municipality was placed under administration in February 2009.
Mpumalanga MEC for Co-Operative Governance Norman Mokoena said the municipality had made progress in addressing its problems.
"The executive council was convinced that with the interventions that we have put in place fertile ground has been laid for the democratically elected representatives of the Pixley ka Seme local municipality to resume their responsibilities," he said in a statement.
A municipal manager and a supply chain manager had now been appointed.
Mokoena said "water-tight" performance agreements had been signed with almost all the senior managers in the municipality.
Problems such as refuse removal, municipal health system management, environmental management, traffic control and disaster management had been dealt with.
The MEC said most of the grievances that had led to unrest and the abuse of the system were related to the absence of policy frameworks or the ineffectiveness of those policy frameworks.
This had been addressed.
Nevertheless, the department said there was still a shortage of skills in the technical and engineering sections at the municipality.
- SAPA
