Controversial Ex-Buffalo City Boss Takes Reins At Enoch Mgijima

Embattled Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality has appointed controversial former Buffalo City Metro Municipal Manager, Andile Sihlahla, as its accounting officer. His appointment is effective from today (October 1).

In a statement yesterday, the local authority said Sihlahla was not new to the municipality as he had been an advisor in the office of executive mayor, Madoda Papiyane. That contract ended yesterday. Today he will take over from acting Municipal Manager, Aphiwe Mkhangelwa.

“Sihlahla, brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to his new role. He was serving as advisor in the Office of the Executive Mayor (EMLM),” municipal spokesperson Lonwabo Kowa said. Direct questions sent to the municipality after the announcement had not been responded to at the time of publishing.

The Economic Freedom Fighters described Sihlahla's appointment as showing the “residents the middle finger”. Zikhona Njoli, the EFF mayoral candidate for Enoch Mgijima, said her party was disgusted and disappointed by the continued behavior of the ANC-led council of treating the residents like trash.

“This embattled municipality is suffering from a syndrome of systematic looting of state resources through scrupulous overtime, ghost workers, Eskom debt, political interference in administration with no regard to clean governance and accountability,” she said. “By appointing Andile Sihlahla as the municipal manager is once again showing people of Enoch Mgijima Municipality the middle finger as he was flagged by Buffalo City Metro MPAC committee to be in 'dereliction of duty. The Economic Freedom Fighters in Enoch Mgijima Municipality rejects this appointment with the contempt it deserves.”

Sihlahla was appointed to his rocky tenure in BCMM in June 2017. A year later he came under intense scrutiny over a controversial procurement deviation involving audit firm Sizwe Ntsaluba Gobodo (SNG). Investigations revealed that Sihlahla officially approved a tender deviation to perform an annual stock count five days after the firm had already completed the work. This led to a damning report by the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC), which accused him of "gross dereliction of duty”.

During the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, BCMM's R30 million COVID-19 food voucher programme came under investigation by the Hawks. Insiders flagged that several retail companies awarded the tender were only registered on the national database on the exact day the tender closed, while others attended briefings before the contracts were even advertised.

Simultaneously, the municipality was accused of mismanaging R2.3 million of the relief fund to buy soap rather than feeding destitute communities, sparking massive political backlash and council division. The fallout from recurring Auditor-General transgressions and the MPAC reports created deep divisions within the ANC caucus in BCMM.

In mid-2020, the council instructed the then executive mayor, Xola Pakati, to initiate suspension proceedings against Sihlahla. However, Sihlahla fought the suspension, labeling the process "flawed and illegal". The political impasse grew so severe that the ANC provincial working committee had to step in to mediate and keep council meetings functioning.

EMLM yesterday also announced the appointment of its former risk manager, Tshepang Mnyande, as the director for Integrated Planning and Economic Development, replacing the late Khulile Maceba who passed away in June this year.