By Celani Sikhakhane
- The R43.5-million was diverted to operational costs like salaries while service delivery projects for water, roads and electricity remain unfinished.
- A Mayor must be appointed by 5 February and all councillors must explain why they should not be held liable.
KZN MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi announced this week that all ten councillors at Impendle Local Municipality could be held personally liable for the mismanagement of R43.5-million in conditional grants.
The MEC made the announcement during an oversight visit to the municipality in the KZN midlands.
He said critical service delivery projects for water, roads and electricity remain unfinished while portions of the money were diverted to pay operational costs like salaries.
Other portions were sent back to the National Treasury because the municipality failed to spend them.
“It is a betrayal of the residents of Impendle that money meant for water, roads and electricity is being sent back to Pretoria or used to cover administrative failures while our people continue to wait for services. This ends now,” he said.
The municipality has been operating without a Mayor since July 2025.
Buthelezi described this as a leadership vacuum that has allowed administrative instability to go unchecked.
“A municipality cannot be a ship without a captain. This leadership vacuum has directly contributed to the current state of lawlessness and financial ruin we see today,” he said.
The municipality also failed to pay salaries to workers and councillors for January.
Buthelezi said the municipality has repeatedly failed to pay salaries on time since May 2025.
He has ordered that a Mayor must be appointed by Thursday, 5 February 2026.
All ten councillors have been served with the Code of Conduct and must provide written reasons by the same date explaining why they should not be held personally liable for failing to exercise their oversight roles.
Pictured above: KZN MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi.
Image source: Cogta
