18 October 2007

The IFP has expressed serious concerns about the unresolved issues at the Umsekeli Municipal Services following the disestablishment of the entity by the ANC-controlled KwaZulu Natal Department of Local Government. 

The Umsekeli Municipal Services was set up by the former IFP administration to assist local authorities in service delivery in the province. It was disestablished by the ANC administration following the 2004 elections without any thought to implications of such a move. 

“The disestablishment has left the matters of the entity’s budget, assets and personnel in limbo. Disclaimer of audit opinion is one consequence.  Pending litigations by former employees are another,” said Leader of the Official Opposition in KwaZulu Natal Dr Lionel Mtshali. 

The IFP believes the Department of Local Government naively assumed that it would take over the functions once the entity is dissolved. “They have now learned that the winding down of the Umsekeli Municipal Services is a process in its own right,” said Dr Mtshali. 

The IFP fears that with no one accountable the entity’s woes will intensify as time passes. “On a human level, the most pressing is the issue of former personnel benefits which has left scores of individuals in the cold,” said Dr Mtshali. 

Contact: Dr Lionel Mtshali, 083 256 4902