Contact Details for the City Manager are as follows:
City Hall
Dr Pixley KaSeme Street
PO Box 1014, Durban, 4000
Tel. +27 (0)31 311 2100
Fax. +27 31 311 2170
The City Manager of eThekwini Municipality Sibusiso Sithole has promised to tighten all oversight structures within the Municipality, saying this will be accompanied by the implementation of early warning signs to detect when things are likely to get out of hand.
Sithole took over from Mike Sutcliffe on 3 January 2012 and is expected to hit the ground running. In an interview with Ezasegagasini Metro, Sithole who was born in Johannesburg but grew up in Harrismith in the Free State before moving to Durban post matriculation said, his priority is to make sure that the Municipal finances are used prudently.
“Firstly I will need to assemble a team that will complement my weaknesses and strengths. And I don’t want people who will not challenge me. When I am saying something that is not really right I need a person who will tell me that I am wrong,” said the ardent Orlando Pirates fan.
Sithole is not a stranger in eThekwini as he was once appointed acting Municipal Manager in 2000 following the death of Felix Dlamini. After he gave the reigns to Sutcliffe as City Manager, Sithole said in 2002 he was “retrenched” for operational reasons.
“After leaving the City I worked as a local government consultant and at some stage I was a General Manager within the Corporate Services at Umngeni Water,” he said.
Apart from acting in eThekwini nearly ten years ago, former chief executive of the former Centrals Council and first Deputy City Manager under Dlamini, Sithole has an extensive policy and planning background with a plethora of qualifications in Law studies, Policy and Industrial Relations from local universities and abroad.
He was recently applauded by everyone in the local government sphere for taking uMsunduzi Municipality “out of the ICU” after he turned around the financial affairs of the Municipality that was in the brink of collapse. Now he leaves the Municipality with the bank balance boasting more than R270 million. In eThekwini, Sithole said all that is needed is to go back to the basics and make sure that everything is done correctly.
“The Supply Chain Management needs to be looked at along with the use of section 36. We must put internal controls and look at the tendering system. We should also scrutinise the bid committees and make sure that they are made up of people who are ethical and have the interest of the City at heart,” Sithole said.
EThekwini is well positioned economically, boasting one of the busiest ports in Africa. Sithole said he wants eThekwini to continue being the leading City in Africa. “We must put people first in all that we are doing because this is their City,” he said. Speaking shortly after the announcement of Sithole as the new Municipal Manager, Mayor James Nxumalo said, the whole Executive Committee had confidence in him and believed that he would do the job well. “Sithole satisfied the panel as the best candidate for the job,” Nxumalo said.