By Luvuyo Mjekula
A team of technical experts is expected to arrive in Makhanda tomorrow to provide support to the embattled Makana Municipality as part of the national Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs’ (Cogta) Section 154 intervention.
The experts are specialists in project management, municipal finance, budgeting, supply chain management, auditing, engineering and service delivery improvement, electrical and civil engineering, as well as human resources and administration.
Cogta deputy minister, Dr Namane Dixon Masemola, announced the “support package” in Makhanda last week and Makana councillors approved it at a special council meeting today (11 August).
According to a report tabled at the council meeting, the technical team will be made up of seven professionals led by Paul Serote, with a wide range of expertise and experience ranging from leadership and management, financial and risk management, engineering and management, roads and stormwater management, to training and change management and organisational development, to mention but a few.
The support will augment the intervention and support that is currently provided by the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency (MISA).
For years, residents of Makhanda and surrounding towns have suffered as a result of the municipality’s failure to deliver services.
At a meeting between the Eastern Cape Provincial Executive Council and the National Cabinet on 16 April 2025, Makana Municipality was flagged as one of a number of municipalities in the Eastern Cape facing a range of challenges.
The office of Cogta minister Velenkosini Hlabisa received a petition from concerned residents of Makana, complaining about the unsatisfactory provision of basic services to the communities. In response, Hlabisa delegated his deputy Masemola to visit the municipality.
Masemola visited the municipality on two occasions, and on his recent call last Thursday, he introduced the support package to councillors and officials. At the special council meeting today, Makana councillors acknowledged that the institution faces governance, financial, institutional and service delivery challenges and accepted the national government’s intervention.
Read the full story in Grocott’s Mail on Friday.
