eThekwini city manager interviews cancelled over “succession battle.”
|||eThekwini Municipality’s top brass were told that interviews which had been scheduled for Friday for the post of city manager had been cancelled, as tension related to the succession battle intensifies in the KwaZulu-Natal region.
The latest move appears to have put a spanner in the appointment of a new city manager which should be completed before December 1.
“We were not given any reason for the cancellation last Friday,” said one senior local ANC source, “but I suspect that it’s because the province has not come to an agreement on the person to be appointed.
“The interviews are just a formality, as a decision would already have been taken. As it stands the only two possible winning candidates are Cyril Xaba, adviser to the premier, and S’bu Sithole, administrator of the Msunduzi Municipality.”
The contentious debate over Michael Sutcliffe’s replacement is said to be entrenching divisions between the ANC at provincial level and the ANC’s eThekwini region.
Speculation over the succession battle is set to peak this week when the ANC’s provincial executive is likely to meet to decide on the matter. Only then, say insiders, will the region formally interview the three short-listed candidates.
There was an urgency to reach a decision, a source added, because Sutcliffe may be asked to stay on beyond December if consensus is not reached this week.
“The regional conference should have taken place two weeks ago, but had to be called off as well because the ANC could not obtain a quorum,” one official said.
“This would also have played a role in the debate over the position of city manager, as Sutcliffe could still have a fighting chance of retaining his post if his supporters succeed in calling for this at the conference.
“Without that conference, Sutcliffe does not have a chance of a come-back so the debate has now intensified on the front runners Xaba and Sithole,” the official said.
Lennox Mabaso, spokesman for Co-operative Governance and local Government MEC Nomusa Dube, has dismissed media reports that Dube had thrown her weight behind Sithole as a preferred candidate for the top job.
“It’s not true that the MEC had any favourites as speculated by the media, which has given the impression that there is a division in the party. This is not the case. Ms Dube has no influence or authority over the decision-making process governing the position of eThekwini city manager.”
Stakes are high in the race for a post carrying a R2.1m annual package plus perks. Just last week, KZN Legislature Chief Whip, Makhosi Khoza, the only female shortlisted for the job, withdrew her application citing death threats as the main reason.
This left Xaba, Sithole and the city manager of Amathole in the Eastern Cape, Vuyo Mlokoti.