Advocate Ashmar Khuduge, the municipal manager of Rustenburg Local Municipality, is facing a special council meeting regarding allegations of dereliction of duty. However, the speaker has allegedly cancelled the meeting unilaterally and without prior consultation.
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The mayor and the speaker of the Rustenburg Local Municipality in the North West are at loggerheads over the failure to call a council meeting to consider a report on allegations of dereliction of duty against municipal manager Advocate Ashmar Khuduge.
Mayor Sheila Mabale-Huma last week wrote to the North West Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs MEC Gaoage Molapisi complaining about speaker Lebogang Pule's interference in her duties.
Mabale-Huma asked Molapisi to urgently investigate the circumstances surrounding Pule’s refusal and cancellation of the special council meeting scheduled for last Tuesday, April 28.
She called on the MEC to provide a determination on the legality and procedural correctness of the speaker’s action.
Additionally, Mabale-Huma also wants Molapisi to take appropriate remedial steps to ensure council is able to convene without further delay to address the matter concerning Khuduge.
“Given the seriousness of the allegations and their potential impact on municipal administration and service delivery, your swift intervention is critical to ensure that due process is followed and that governance is not compromised,” she explained to the MEC.
According to Mabale-Huma, preventing council from convening to deliberate on such issues undermines oversight responsibilities and it is overstepping authority.
“This action by the speaker weakens governance structures and delays necessary interventions that may be required to safeguard service delivery and institutional integrity,” she added. Mabale-Huma expressed her deep concern over this development.
“The matter intended for discussion is of significant importance as it relates directly to the performance and accountability of a senior administrative official whose role is central to the effective functioning of the municipality as well as service delivery,” she said.
Mabale-Huma said as executive mayor she acted within the bounds of her authority in requesting Pule to convene an urgent meeting and that the speaker’s decision to cancel the special council meeting without discussing the cancellation with her may be inconsistent with the applicable legislative framework and council rules of order by law.
“The obstruction of this process raises questions about compliance with principles of transparency, accountability and good governance as envisaged in municipal legislation,” she further stated.
Molapisi’s spokesperson Lerato Gambu confirmed that the MEC has received the letter on April 28.
“The MEC is currently processing that matter,” he said.
Mabale-Huma and Khuduge had not responded to requests for comment by Thursday afternoon while Pule could not be reached for comment.
In November, IOL reported that Khuduge could be jailed for claiming the municipality cannot find six key pages detailing how four lucrative information technology tenders worth millions of rands were awarded.
This followed a North West High Court judgment declaring him and the municipality to be in contempt of court by failing to comply with the order granted in October 2021.
loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za