INLSA
060211:SIBUSISO SITHOLE
Gugu Mbonambi and Bongani Hans
MSUNDUZI administrator Sibusiso Sithole could be announced the new eThekwini municipal manager at today’s final full council meeting of the year.
Speculation was rife yesterday that Sithole had secured the job, worth R2.1 million a year to outgoing municipal manager Mike Sutcliffe, after wowing members of the executive committee during a marathon interview process on Wednesday.
Interviews for the post, which were postponed last Friday over apparent discord within the ANC in the region, continued until late on Wednesday night.
Sources said Sithole had responded so well to questions posed that he had “mesmerised” members of the executive committee who interviewed him.
However, members of the interview panel were tight-lipped about the process yesterday, saying that they had been sworn to secrecy.
An insider said that Sithole would most likely be at the helm of eThekwini, which had a R28.6-billion budget for the 2011/12 financial year, and that the council had been under pressure to finalise the matter before January.
Sithole would take over the reins from Sutcliffe, who has been in the hot seat for eight years. Sutcliffe’s contract ended in June, but it was extended on a monthly basis for a maximum of six months, meaning a new manager would be needed in January.
“Sithole is a principled man. He is fair and is favoured even by members of the opposition parties. He has worked in eThekwini before, so he is tried and tested, and believed to be the right man for the job,” a council source said.
Sithole was up against Cyril Xaba, adviser to Premier Zweli Mkhize and chairman of the KwaZulu-Natal Planning Commission, and Vuyo Mlokoti, city manager of the Amathole district municipality in the Eastern Cape.
The ANC chief whip in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature, Makhosi Khoza, had also been shortlisted for the job, but withdrew her application after receiving death threats.
A report is expected to be tabled at today’s full council meeting, either announcing the new manager or providing details of the selection and interviewing process for the job.
Mayor James Nxumalo said the executive committee would meet today before the full council meeting, “to finalise the issue of the appointment of the city manager”.
The SACP, however, yesterday called for the post to be re-advertised because it believed the selection process had been flawed.
SACP provincial secretary-general Themba Mthembu said that the present selection process had been “muddied” by political interference and intimidation.
“The ANC Youth League has expressed its opinion about the process because it has its preferred candidate (Xaba). At the same time, one of the candidates had to pull out after complaining about intimidation. Anyone who would be employed now won’t have credibility,” he said.
Mthembu said that the process should be delayed for several months to find the right candidate.
He said eThekwini was unlike other municipalities because of its big budget, and an “excellent” person was required to manage it.
