YET another massive road upgrade project has been commenced within the Greater Kokstad Municipality with the turning of the sod to mark the start of the construction of the P609 road. The project valued at R87 million is set to upgrade the provincial road, P609, which will contribute to the facelift of the town of Kokstad. The project is wholly funded by the Department of Transport in KwaZulu-Natal and recently the contractor was introduced to the community members. This is the town’s main road linking the town to the neighbouring Eastern Cape towns, passing through the town and a gateway into Kokstad. This is a 76-kilometre project by the KwaZulu-Natal but will be implemented in phases as the first phase underway is for three kilometres, starting from the entrance of the town to its outskirts.

The Acting MEC for the Department of Transport, Jomo Sibiya, Harry Gwala District Mayor, Councillor Z.D. Nxumalo, Greater Kokstad Municipal Mayor, Cllr B.M. Mtolo, Harry Gwala Speaker, Cllr M.S.D. Mdunge, Greater Kokstad Municipality Speaker, Cllr Lwanda Madikizela were part of the delegation led by the MEC to officially turn the sod to mark the official start of the project. Moreover, the project is part of enhancing the local economy as it is a known fact that the infrastructural road network attracts investors especially in remote town’s like Kokstad, which also must cater for neighbouring towns. “It is a known fact that Kokstad is under pressure of competition from the neighbouring towns that have been developed with speed to distract the demand of people coming from various places to buy in Kokstad,” said MEC Sibiya. He said this is a reason the Kokstad leadership is creative enough to think ahead to ensure the highest standard of infrastructural development. “This project coincides with the half a billion-interchange project by SANRAL, a solution to traffic congestion since the town of Kokstad is fast growing where heavy vehicles are coming in and out all the time… said MEC Sibiya. He also revealed that several jobs will be created for the local communities and that the local contractors will benefit 30% of the contract. MEC Sibiya further commended the Kokstad Mayor, Cllr B.M Mtolo for being consistent in ensuring service delivery to the people and made it clear that it was through his hard work and patience that this road is now being rehabilitated.

The MEC has also stressed that he would be delighted if the contractor would complete the project sooner than the stipulated time. The Kokstad Mayor, Cllr B.M. Mtolo commended the Department for reacting positively to his request for the upgrading of this road which will contribute significantly to the facelift of the town and should be given serious attention it deserves until it is completed. “We are a Municipality that is very serious about service delivery as WE can never be defocussed or diverted from our vision of becoming a City of Economic Possibilities by 2047,” said Cllr Mtolo.

THE Greater Kokstad Municipality has maintained its  top  spot  as  the  good performing  Municipality  in the entire province of KwaZulu-Natal after having been rated at number one once more and in in position nine countrywide.

The recent Government Performance   Index       2021     (GPI) research    conducted    by    Good Governance  Africa (GGA),  a  Non-Profit  Organisation (NPO)  focused on   researching, advocating,   and improving governance across Africa, is a ranking instrument that provides all interested stakeholders with an index of Municipal- level governance performance which was because of a research conducted by GGA.

However,  the  Municipality  has always been rated number one by two  independent agencies,  Good Governance Africa (GGA), and Afrika Ratings Agency. Despite    that,    the    National Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs rated the Municipality as the best performing in the province. The   GGA   evaluation   process zoomed in into the performance of about 205 local municipalities across the country and separately accessed metropolitan      Municipalities. Areas of focus were Administration, Service delivery and planning and monitoring.

The top ten leading Municipalities in South Africa are listed as follows: Cape Agulhas, Bergrivier, Saldanha Bay, Midvaal, Prince Albert, Swellendam, Overstrand, Bitou, Greater Kokstad and Lesedi. The Greater Kokstad Municipality Mayor, Bheki Mtolo said this is all about  respecting  the  public  funds and abiding by the budget practices in ensuring long term planning. He however said the news were welcomed surprise given the fact that the Municipality is continuing to experience inadequate equitable share owed to the hard economic times.   This   also   affects revenue collection as most businesses are still recovering from the effects of Covid-19 impact where most could hardly pay their Municipal rates as they were expected at the same time to pay for their overheads. He said the top  spot was  also
attributed to the commitment of the Municipal  officials  and  Councillors who come to work knowing they have the honour to serve the communities, not themselves.

The Municipal Manager for the Greater Kokstad Municipality, Sipho Zwane added that central and critical to the functionality of any Municipality is good governance, sound financial management,   effective   oversight, discipline, and motivated personnel. The collaboration and cooperation of  Councilors,  management,  staff, and organized labour at the Greater Kokstad   Municipality   provides   a conducive  environment  to  achieve the  service  delivery  objectives  of the Municipality as enshrined in the Integrated Development Plan”, said Zwane.

The   decisive   and   insightful leadership of His Worship the Mayor, Councilor BM Mtolo is highly appreciated as it gets the best from those in the administration, Zwane added. “The results of the rating agencies serve as  a  motivation  for us to do more,” said Zwane. The   report   is available on www.gga.org

THE Greater Kokstad Municipality has moved swiftly in appointing the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), a strategic position for the institution, following the resignation of the previous incumbent. Within a matter of weeks after former CFO, Thando Mketsu resigned, the Municipality wasted no time and commenced with the processes to appoint a new incumbent and Siyabonga Khoza was successfully selected to fill the vacancy. Khoza’s appointment was warmly welcomed by the Municipal Council since he has been dubbed “Mr No Nonsense” who is upstanding  and values his work. He has worked in the finance department for some time and has been often selected to act in the position on certain occasions.

The Kokstad Mayor, Bheki Mtolo said: “what I like about Khoza is he is a product of the Greater Kokstad Municipality who is familiar with our mission and vision and our stand on corruption,” Mtolo said. He said he liked the fact that some councillors commended  Khoza’s appointment and dubbed him “Mr no nonsense”. Municipal manager Mr Sipho Zwane and Cllr BM Mtolo congratulates the new CFO Mr. Siyabonga Khoza. “[Khoza] knows very well that here in Kokstad we deal with both tigers and flies, we are not only targeting clerks but even their bosses must account and can be shown the door if they cannot comply,” said Mtolo. He said Khoza is also aware that the municipality’s financial plans are based on fulfilling the vision of Kokstad becoming a “City of Economic Possibilities” by 2047. More and above the aforementioned credit, Mr Khoza’s profile gives the municipality confidence in appointing him at this position, his profile reflects that he holds a BCOM obtained from the university of KZN and project management from the University of Cape Town. He affiliates with:-

• CIPFA: Chatered Instistute Of Financial Accountants
• CIGFARO: The Chartered Institute of Government Finance Audit and Risk Officers
• SAAMA: The Southern African Asset Management Association
• SAIBPP: South African black property practitioners. In terms of career experience, he started in an accounting, taxation, and auditing firm, as a trainee to senior consultant managing clients. He assisted Public and Private entities with Drafting of Annual financial statements
• Prepare the budget control reports
• Preparation of financial reports and reconciliation of all management accounts to ensure that the resources of the Municipality
• External and Internal Auditing
• Compilation of GRAP compliant asset registers, Knowledge of computerized accounting software, Compliance with GRAP (Generally accepted accounting practice) and MFMA (Municipal Finance management Act) and National Treasury compliance,
• Sound professional knowledge and understanding of the accounting discipline
• Drafting of Annual financial statements, Prepare the budget control reports, Preparation of financial reports and reconciliation of all management accounts to ensure that the resources of the Municipality are recorded
• Project Management
• Revenue consultation /compliance

Clients Serviced:

• Hlabisa Local Municipality
• Jozini Local Municipality
• KZN Oils Pty (Ltd)
• Exotic Kitchens Pty (Ltd)
• Umzimkhulu Local Muncipality
• Dundee Local Municipality
• Jansenville Local Municipality (Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality).

He joined Greater Kokstad Local Municipality in 2012 and occupied the following positions: Assistant Manager: Revenue 2012, he was later appointed as the Manager: Budget and reporting where he was also responsible for various other functions; the Compilation of Interim and Annual Financial statements. Submit monthly treasury reports. Preparation of financial reports and reconciliation of all management accounts to ensure that the resources of the Municipality of the Municipality are  used  effectively,  efficiently,  and economically. Compilation of Annual Financial Statements to comply with the Municipal Finance Management Act, Liaise with internal and external auditors,  and  Compilation  of  GRAP Compliant asset register. He  further  worked  as  Manager: Assets and financial reporting where the municipality Insourced the function of compiling financial statements and built capacity to perform such functions internally, thus resulting in savings to the municipality. His focus was Compilation of Interim and Annual Financial statements, to Submit monthly treasury reports. The Preparation of financial reports and reconciliation of all management accounts to ensure that the resources of the Municipality are  used  effectively,  efficiently,  and economically, Compilation of Annual Financial Statements to comply with the Municipal Finance Management Act, to Liaise with internal and external auditors, and the Compilation of GRAP Compliant asset register. He would act as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) as and when required.

GKM spokesperson Nthabeleng Matshoba said the municipality has received applications for indigent services from the public and applications are being processed to avoid the granting of non-qualifying households.

“Applications are submitted to a tracing agent, forwarded to auditors and approved by the council. Due to these processes, the municipality is trying to minimise the turn-around time to within six months,” said Matshoba.

She said the municipality is committed to assisting people who are financially needy, but the assistance must be within the prescripts of the policy.