CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
by Maqu Makhaye, South Africa, 19 March 1998
THEME = SOCIAL CONDIT.
What happens when town services come to a complete halt?
The refusal of the Butterworth Transitional Local Council (TLC) to step down, resulted in the closure of businesses, schools, hampered the hospital and resulted in a town becoming a ghost town. No essential services were running in a town regarded as the second town in the former homeland of Transkei in the Eastern Cape Province. Butterworth lies along the main national route, linking the Eastern Cape Province and other provinces.
Municipal workers went on strike, basic services came to a halt, and the hospital refused to accept new patients, transferring existing patients to other hospitals because of lack of water.
The transitional local council, has had problems with the community since it took office more than four years ago. The mayor of the town, Mr.Anthony Bam blatantly refused to step down, and this brought the town to a standstill - not for the first time, either.
In a previous close-down, banks, schools and the electricity supply department shut up shop, seriously hampering the town's already shaky economy. This time round, the striking workers, turned off the town's water supply and left the garbage on the streets. There seemed to be no immediate end to the present strike, so what was to be done?
The Executive Council in the Eastern Cape, under the leadership of Smuts Ngonyama, Member of the Executive Council in charge of Local Government and Housing, instructed the Butterworth TLC to step down and allow the provincial government to put into place an administrative resuscitation team.
The African National Congress (ANC) dominated Butterworth Transitional Local Council, under the mayorship of Anthony Bam, refused to step aside as instructed by the Provincial Government.
Members of the Butterworth TLC were accused of corruption, and mismanagement of funds, which included non-payment of rates and taxes by most councillors, unauthorised increase in councillors' allowances, unauthorised use of poverty index grant finances, and the use of public funds for litigation in personal cases.
Mr.Bam constantly denied these allegations, saying it was propaganda to discredit the Council. He added that if councillors did owe funds, they would have been disqualified from holding office. "All my councillors' accounts are up to date", he said. Mr.Bam reiterated his refusal to step down, saying his Council would take action as the situation warrented. All this in view of retaining control over the troubled town. He said the wrangle with the Provincial government was a constitutional matter, and vowed to do whatever it takes to fight the situation.
Butterworth was once seen as a city with potential for economic growth, but all that was been shattered with the events taking place and the exodus of the industrial sector. Many factories closed down, and left people without employment. Those businesses which remained (and there weren't many), threatened to leave, unless the situation improved.
One wonders why the Council and its leader refused to step aside and give way to Provincial government. Did they really think they were best serving the ordinary citizen by staying in office, or was it sheer cussedness?
The latest development is, that the Provincial government has now taken over the town's administration, because the mayor failed to accept the ultimatum given him earlier by the government. Administrators have arrived to take over.
In an interview, Mr.Ngonyama said his provincial government will seek a court ruling so as to implement that section of the Constitution (Section 139) which states: "When a municipality cannot or does not fulfil an executive obligation in terms of legislation, the relevant Provincial Executive may intervene by taking steps to ensure the fulfilment of that obligation".
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CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
PeaceLink 1998 - Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgement