Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has committed to work with all relevant stakeholders in the troubled Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality to address the community’s concerns, including calls for a its dissolution.

The Minister made the commitment during a meeting on Tuesday following issues they raised.

The Minister, accompanied by Deputy Minister Thembi Nkadimeng and MEC Zolile Williams, met with stakeholders, including community representatives.

In a statement, the department said the Minister also met with traditional and religious leaders, as well as business leaders, throughout the day.

“The community raised concerns mainly related to service delivery challenges and urged the Minister to intervene by placing the municipality under Section 139 (7) as the current intervention in terms of Section 139 (1) and (5) of the Constitution is not yielding the desired results,” the department said in a statement.

The municipality has been in a prolonged financial and service delivery crisis. It was last year flagged by the Auditor General as one of the municipalities not functioning to capacity

In 2018, the Eastern Cape Provincial Executive Council intervened, in terms of S139(1) and S139(5) of the Constitution.

According to a report tabled before Parliament last year, a financial recovery plan was developed for the municipality, but the implementation thereof did not yield the desired results. The previous municipal council failed to play its oversight role.

Parliament in September heard that that municipality’s financial crisis was persistent, with material breach of its obligations to provide basic services. It also failed to honour its financial commitments, a state of affairs that necessitated national government intervention.

Source: South African Government News Agency