The mayor of a small, rural municipality with gravel roads and taps that have run dry has two fully furnished offices in towns just 55km apart.
Sep 5, 2010 12:00 AM | By Zine George
Umzimvubu municipal mayor Bulelwa Mabhungu uses both offices in Mount Ayliff and Mount Frere in the Eastern Cape. UDM chief whip in the council, Pearson Gqoli, has criticised the duplication of the offices.
The municipal offices were originally situated at Mount Ayliff and renovated to the tune of R9.2-million in 2005. A year later the council spent R12.4-million renovating a building in nearby Mount Frere and relocated there.
Said Gqoli: "We tried in vain to discourage this ... but you know in any council meeting where ANC councillors are a majority ... they put every item on vote and have it their way."
Mabhungu said there was nothing untoward about having two offices: "The council took a sober decision to move local government to Mount Frere, while district offices remain in Mount Ayliff. Most provincial government offices will be housed in Mount Ayliff. That makes sense if we are serious about economic development in both towns."
Service delivery is poor, but municipal spokesman Simthembile Kulu said these problems would be solved.
