President Jacob Zuma wants to end cadre deployment in local government

In an effort to stop cadres from holding senior municipal management jobs, President Jacob Zuma wants to amend the Municipal Systems Act, this according to a leading newspaper.

The article in the newspaper said amendments to the act were contained in a bill submitted to Parliament by Minister Sicelo Shiceka and would be discussed in the coming week.

The amendments defined—“chairpersons, deputy chairpersons, secretaries, deputy­ secretaries or treasurers of the party nationally, or any province, region or other area in which the party operates”— as those who would be excluded from senior management positions. It also banned the employment of top municipal managers who did not have basic skills and forces municipalities to report to Shiceka and the relevant provincial MEC when city managers were appointed.

Shiceka said the bill was meant to ‘depoliticise’ and ‘professionalise’ local government. He added that the amendments were just the beginning and other bills would be introduced to put local government where it belongs.