Mdaka in Mutsila’s shoes

Date: 03 August 2007 By: Nthambeleni Gabara

The executive council of the Vhembe District Municipality took a resolution to send their first female executive mayor, Mrs Irene Mutsila, packing during a special council meeting held at the Council´s chamber last Wednesday.

Mutsila has been replaced by the former mayor of Mulima/Hlanganani TLC and the current regional chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC) in Vhembe, Cllr Phillemon Mdaka.

Shortly after she was deployed as the executive mayor of the district municipality, Mutsila and other ANC members embarked on a decisive power struggle. Mutsila is reported to have fuelled anger amongst other ANC members in the district and the province when she gave the former municipal manager, Mr Shandukani Mulovhedzi, sabbatical leave last December.

To make matters worse, when she appointed Mr Joseph Silinda as a district municipal manager in May this year, an urgent special council meeting spearheaded by the chief whip and the speaker of the district municipality, Cllr Patrick Sikhutshi and Cllr Suzan Sibiya, was held and a resolution was taken to reverse Silinda´s appointment.

The district council, being led by Sibiya and Sikhutshi, were accusing Mutsila of taking crucial decisions without informing the council.

After reversing Silinda´s appointment, the council of the Vhembe District Municipality, on June 21 this year, held a special council meeting, where they took a resolution to suspend Mutsila for 30 days. At that time, Silinda, on the other hand, had already taken the legal route as he wanted to be reinstated and to be paid the lucrative incentives. He took the executive council of the district municipality, the former mayor, Mrs Mutsila and the MEC for Local Government and Housing, Ms Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, to the Thohoyandou High Court.

Mr Ndivhuwo "Screamer" Mamathuba of the district municipality confirmed this week that Mutsila has been replaced by Mdaka. "We held a special council meeting last Wednesday and a motion of no confidence on Vho-Mutsila was taken," he said.

Mamathuba said that when the motion of no confidence was taken, three reasons were singled out, that Mutsila gave the former municipal manager sabbatical leave without their knowledge, that she further neglected to consult the council when she appointed Silinda as municipal manager, as well as the fact that she defied the council’s request to revoke the appointment of Silinda, so that proper procedures could be followed.

When asked how council was handling Silinda´s demands, Mamathuba said: "That matter is still in court; we are unable to talk about it now. However, all this happened for only one purpose, that of speeding up service delivery,"

Mutsila this week claimed that she had just learnt it from the media that she had been replaced by Mdaka. "What I know is that I am still on suspension. I don´t have any other information."

Mdaka once served as a full-time member of the executive committee of the Makhado Municipality before he moved to the district municipality in 2004, to work as a member of the executive mayoral committee until recently, when he was appointed to replace Mutsila.

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