The City of Ekurhuleni mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza has fired Gauteng Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) chairperson, Nkululeko Dunga, as a Member of the Mayoral Committee for Finance. According to Xhakaza, the decision was made due to the city's concerning financial situation. 

THINGS NEED TO CHANGE

On two occasions, the City of Ekurhuleni failed to pass a budget under Dunga's tenure due to political infighting within the ANC-EFF partnership. Should the City of Ekurhuleni miss the deadline to adopt a budget by Friday, the Gauteng government will have to intervene.

The mayor said that the move aims to speed up the city's completion of the budget and approval of the annual budget. "There's also an urgent need for the turnaround of what he says is the city's worrying financial position," he said.

JUSTIFIABLE CHANGE

The ANC in Ekurhuleni has welcomed the decision by Xhakaza and labelled it as justifiable. "This decision was accordingly endorsed following the governance update report which pointed to fundamental weaknesses in how the budget process has been handled and the seriously regressing financial position of the city, a matter we have long raised with no notable effort to turn around the dire situation. We firmly believe that every member of the mayoral committee must be committed to a co-ordinated way of governance, under the guidance of the executive mayor, including accountability, which was not the case. We take this opportunity to appreciate the contribution made by the former MMC," said the ANC. The EFF or Dunga are yet to respond to his dismissal.