Durban - KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala has given a detailed time frame for the swearing-in of new mayors, saying all district municipality political office-bearers should be sworn in by December 7 this year.
Zikalala gave these time frames on Monday while virtually addressing the media regarding the way forward following last week’s elections, where 20 local municipalities and the eThekwini metro were left hung, forcing parties into urgent coalition talks.
He kicked off his address by condemning some members of the public who have been on a crusade to kick out defeated councillors from their offices immediately after the results were announced.
Beyond condemning that, Zikalala also warned against the persecution of municipal officials, saying they are civil servants, not politicians and victimising them was against the law.
“Since last Monday’s elections, we have noted a few unpleasant scenes in which certain people were seen toyi-toying and “demanding keys” to certain buildings. Others were engaging in other forms of provocation. These were accompanied by insults hurled at municipal officials who are public servants and not politicians.
“We wish to remind all citizens that Public Servants are employed in line with the relevant legislation governing employment in South Africa, including the Labour Relations Act. Therefore, they must be allowed to discharge their duties without any interference or victimisation. Any practices to the contrary must be reported to the Department of Co-Operative Governance and Traditional Leadership so that these incidents can be dealt with immediately,” Zikalala warned.
Giving time frames for municipal council sittings to elect new mayors, Zikalala said all local municipalities should do so before the end of November.
“The IEC declared the results on 8 November 2021, which means that these municipalities must be constituted by the 23rd of November 2021. District Municipalities, on the other hand, are required to convene fourteen days after the last local municipality in that district constitutes itself. This means that District Municipalities will be constituted at different intervals. However, the last date for such constitution is the 7th of December 2021. The District elections will be facilitated by the IEC. Municipal Managers and their staff were trained by COGTA on how to apply the procedures. The last workshop was held on 08 November 2021.”
“All Municipal Managers have supplied dates and venues for the inaugural meetings. These dates may change in some instances depending on the readiness of political parties. However, all local municipalities should have completed their first meetings by the 23rd of November 2021.
“The only instances where local municipalities may go beyond this date is when there is a need to postpone the meeting in cases where the election of one or more office-bearers results in a tie. The law dictates that the meeting be postponed when, at the first instance, voting results in a tie. In the event of a tie at the second meeting, the result is then determined by drawing of a lot.”
POLITICAL BUREAU