Makana Engineering and Infrastructural Services director Bavuyise Tshitshi, who resigned last week, just three months into the job, was set up for failure and faced death threats.
This is according to a reliable source in the Makana council. “Within just three months of taking office, the director faced insurmountable challenges, including lack of support from the municipal manager [Phumelele Kate] and chief financial officer (CFO) Nomfundo Ntsangani, receiving death threats, and feeling set up for failure,” the source said this week.
Reports emerged late last week that Tshitshi had stepped down from his post, effective immediately. While the municipality did not confirm the resignation, Mayor Yandiswa Vara acknowledged to a joint oversight delegation in Port Edward this week that the position had become vacant on Wednesday of last week.
Opposition councillor Lungile Mxube of the Makana Citizens Front (MCF) confirmed Tshitshi’s resignation. Some of the reasons the director quit include:
Lack of support
The treasury department’s inadequate support likely hindered the director’s ability to effectively manage technical services, leading to frustration and disillusionment.
Death threats
The director receiving death threats raises serious concerns about the safety and security of municipal officials, particularly in that department. This is not the first incident of an official receiving death threats, potentially exacerbating existing challenges in service delivery.
Set up for failure
“It is very clear that in this municipality, other directorates are set up for failure by the CFO. This suggests systemic issues within the municipality, including inadequate resources, unrealistic expectations, or even malicious intent. Politicians and the municipal manager are aware of these challenges faced by other departments and the manner in which they are treated by the CFO, who runs the show in this municipality,” the source said.
The source added that the impact on service delivery in an already struggling municipality would be significant. The loss of technical expertise and leadership will likely lead to delays and inefficiencies in service delivery, exacerbating existing backlogs and challenges.
“The municipality’s ability to maintain and upgrade infrastructure will be compromised, potentially leading to further service disruptions and deterioration of existing infrastructure,” the source said.
Residents will bear the brunt of these challenges, facing continued disruptions to essential services like water, electricity, and sanitation.
“Makana Municipality is already under scrutiny for its poor financial management and service delivery. The Auditor-General’s report highlighted the municipality’s financial distress, poor financial reporting, and inadequate record-keeping.”
With 30 of the Eastern Cape’s 39 municipalities classified as distressed, Makana’s situation is particularly dire, they said. According to the source, the resignation of the director of Technical Services will only add to the municipality’s challenges, underscoring the need for urgent reform and support to address these systemic issues.
The MCF, meanwhile, has attributed the resignation to conflict between the erstwhile director and Ntsangani.
“It has come to my knowledge that the municipality is likely to lose another conditional grant for road infrastructure upgrade due to internal conflict between the CFO and [Tshitshi]. This conflict has resulted in the immediate resignation of the director of Infrastructure and Engineering Services,” Mxube stated in a motion addressed to Kate to convene a special council meeting to debate the resignation and other pressing matters.
He agreed that the latest developments will have a serious, negative impact on service delivery and will bring hardship to the citizens who are already suffering due to an ongoing water crisis.
In the motion, the MCF seeks to raise the following issues for debate:
Municipal readiness and constraints in compliance with disaster relief grant implementation
Circumstances that led to the immediate resignation of the director of Infrastructure and Engineering
Municipal failure to pay the Tourism office, which resulted in the laying off of staff and threatening its total collapse, resulting in a legal dispute
Recent appointments in the office of the executive mayor and speaker against a council resolution and in total violation of recruitment and selection policy of council
Neither the municipality nor Tshitshi responded to Grocott’s Mail’s questions.
However, while appearing before the Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) and the Standing Committee on the Auditor-General in Port Edward on Wednesday, Vara, Kate, Ntsangani and council speaker Mtutuzeli Matyumza all flagged infrastructure as one of the major challenges facing the municipality.
