eThekwini councillors address office space crisis

eThekwini Municipality councillors have spoken out about their working conditions raising their plights of not having offices to deal with the public.

In a report at a full council meeting on Friday, the eThekwini Municipality got approval from councillors to amend the existing 42 municipal councillors' office lease agreements with various suppliers to cover the remainder of the Council term period expiring in February 2027.

The report stated that the office of the speaker in eThekwini, Thabani Nyawose, has a delegated responsibility to oversee welfare of councillors in line with the statutory gazette. One of the benefits for councillors, as contained in the said gazette, is access to office space to enable efficient service delivery at the ward level where communities can easily access assistance on municipal services.

According to the report, in securing office space for councillors for the 2021-2026 Council term, a tender seeking a panel of service providers to lease premises as office accommodation for councillors in various wards was advertised. 

According to the report, this tender resulted in a non-award as none of the potential suppliers met the mandatory requirements. Due to this non-award, a Section 36 process deviated from the normal Supply Chain Management (SCM) process to procure 48 three-year lease contracts.

A total of 42 contracts will expire in February 2027.  According to the report the estimated costs for the lease amendment is above R7 million. 

In council, Democratic Alliance (DA) Caucus Chief Whip Councillor, Yogis Govender, said the issue of councillor offices has been a long-standing impediment for the last 2 terms. 

“Given the extraordinary challenges that eThekwini faces, it is unimaginable how a councillor  is expected to function from either the boot of their cars or makeshift information tables on the side of a street or road,” she said.  

Govender said it renders a councillor unable to perform much of the administrative work that they are obliged to carry out. She said the issue highlights the complexity and the bureaucratic hurdles involved in ensuring that councillors have the necessary office spaces. 

“The lack of private space has forced some of us to accept matchbox-sized offices. We also need to look at the structural integrity of some of these offices. One councillor was eventually given a municipal based office after seven years and a week later, the roof caved in over the desk, fortunately without injuries. A year later the door fell out, there was a wood borer infestation. Another councillor has had his offices flooded twice, because he had no option but to occupy a basement in another municipal facility,” Govender said.

Govender said the city must explore alternative solutions or improvements to the SCM processes to facilitate the leasing of compliant office facilities. She said this could involve working closely with landlords to understand and address their concerns, streamlining SCM procedures, or even considering temporary or modular office solutions.

IFP councillor, Dr Jonathan Annipen, said it is imperative that to fulfill their duties they have the tools of the trade. He suggested that while making allowances for office space, councillor support should go further and plan the actual furnishing of offices.

“I took occupancy of the current office in February 2022. In November 2023 a very large office table and printer was delivered. There are no chairs. Councillors support are not ignorant to the challenges because I have tormented them with many emails on the matter,” he said. 

EFF councillor Banele Dlamini said it was sad that most councillors are not performing, laying the blame on the office of the speaker who she said was failing them. "We were told to go and look for offices. We believe this is a political ploy led by the office of the speaker to prevent small parties from performing their duties," said Dlamini. 

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za