Durban – Former eThekwini Municipality mayor Philani Mavundla says he will keep dropping files exposing the inner workings of the municipality.
Mavundla revealed this on his Facebook page on Monday morning.
In his post, Mavundla started off by saying that many people believed that when he agreed to work and save the ANC in eThekwini, he had been bought. He said that some politicians went as far as saying that he was given millions to vote with the ANC, nogal.
“The truth is, yes, ANC is the party that groomed me, taught me many political tactics, but mostly it is a party that many of us have held dearly as a solution to an emancipation agenda for a black man! Hope for development, ending poverty, etc.”
“Clearly, the new crop of those in power is hell-bent on self-enrichment and clinging to power! Many of them keep saying they have not done anything whilst I was the deputy mayor…” Mavundla said.
He shared proof, a letter he sent on August 19, 2022, about the deployment of trade and services management for optimum service delivery.
“Here is proof, in fact, one of many that are coming and will keep on exposing them to show the people … what I was going through!” Mavundla said.
“Last week I showed you my submission about EPWP, but until today, I never got any response! Here, today, I am showing you what I sent in August 2022, already!”
“There’s more coming so that people of eThekwini will know the truth! Never at any time, I was there to be on a honeymoon, I was very clear of my agenda of being a ‘voice of the voiceless’,” Mavundla continued.
“I suppose I became too much of a thorn since they could not do as they please especially to my cluster which is taken as a ‘get-rich quick scheme’ for many politicians as it controls most of the Budget of the city. (The) question remains since the motion that voted me out alleged I was not working towards service delivery at human settlements … what is this?”
Mavundla said that the questions that should be asked are:
- What did the leadership do regarding this letter?
- Did they ever address these, let alone respond to me?
“It has started! Let us tell the people the truth about why I was removed! What is sad is that many in the ANC, my fellow councillors, are fed up and hurting about all this nonsense, but these people are afraid of being fired by those who cannot be questioned clinging onto power. But in the end we’ll all be the same,” Mavundla said.
“Little by little I am coming with shenanigans regarding street lights and contractors, and about many communities who have been living on water tankers for a decade now.”
Mavundla said that he was coming, he should not be rushed.
In the email, headlined “RE: Proposed redeployment of Trade and Services management for optimum service delivery,” Mavundla began by saying that he had occupied office at the municipality for nine months, if questioned by the mayor or people of the city, if he was proud thus far on the work accomplished, his response would be a simple no. If questioned further as to why he failed to deliver on service delivery, he would blatantly admit that senior officials lack the necessary skills and competencies to ensure effective service delivery.
“My intent is not to single out any individual as this is not personal, however, if officials do not perform their duties efficiently as they are allocated huge salaries to do so, as a result, there should be dire consequences in place.”
On electricity, Mavundla said the city has many areas that have no lights and were in total darkness. There were questions and allegations about money that was overspent on street light contracts. The media requested answers, and when he enquired about this, he was given an answer that was dismissive, however, he responded to the question by saying: “I was not around at the time of the incident ...”
On water and sanitation, Mavundla said the number of problems faced by the department “displays us in a poor light to the taxpaying citizens of the city”.
“The mere fact that we have pump stations that has no pumps fitted should explain it all. In Ottawa we have a filler point where trucks will stand half the day waiting to fill up water, however, the management has seen no reason to deal with the situation.”
He said that city fleet tools of trade were stored as if there was no reason to buy these tools in the first place.
“I have even had a situation where our water tankers are on the road with no COR,” Mavundla said.
He said that the cleanliness and hygiene of the city was something easy to maintain but the management had dismally failed to address this issue.
“It is a very awkward situation when a traffic commentator must make a video for the unit to see what needs to be cleaned in an area.
“Please note that I have showed the unit the exact area in December last year. There seems to be no delivery of range bags, yet the unit shows no concerns. My focus is on Trading Services Unit, I have yet to filter through the other units of my portfolio to determine issues, as they have their own set of issues too,” Mavundla said.
He said that in their extended troika meeting, he raised his frustrations and concerns. Therefore, he placed the following on record:
- The DCM of Trade and Services be deployed as DCM to another cluster.
- Heads of electricity, water and sanitation as well as deputy head of sanitation be deployed to other units.
- Head of DSW (Durban Solid Waste) be given a new unit for recycling, this can create employment opportunities.
“Leadership, I am very clear as to what is expected of me, but I cannot function optimally with officials that are incompetent in efficiently executing their duties. Come 2026, these said officials will still be employed, however, we will lose votes as result of pathetic service delivery. The excuse of less capital should not be a problem as the city finds itself paying employees working over the prescribed maximum hours of overtime.
“I trust that the above is in order and look forward to the support and implementation of my request,” Mavundla said.
Daily News