UMZINGWANE residents have accused their local authority of operating without modern by-laws, thereby exposing itself to litigation from ratepayers.
The residents are now demanding lease agreements supported by modern by-laws.
“As it is right now, the council is drafting by-laws; they are going door to door reaching out to residents so that they are actively involved in the drafting of these by-laws. Now my question is: what criteria was the council using to introduce budget without clear-cut by-laws and how do they approve leases without clear by-laws? That is why some residents are still being compelled by the council to continue paying lease fees when they are not supposed to be paying,” a resident said.
Umzingwane Rural District Council chairperson Jethro Moyo confirmed to Southern Eye that they were drafting the by-laws.
“Yes, we are in the process of drafting by-laws, nothing has been finalized as of yet. Every member of the Umzingwane community is involved in this process,” Moyo said.
“The by-laws were there prior, however they are not compatible with the current situation, some of the laws are now obsolete as they were drafted way before independence."
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URDC acting chief executive officer Sthembiso Sibanda also said the council was being guided by a local governance handbook in place of by-laws.
“As we are still drafting the by-laws, the council has been using the local governance handbook. The drafting process is a way to add new laws and make improvements. The handbook has stood as a guideline in dealing with circumstances that have anything to do with leases. Thus, for all processes and procedures, the council has used this handbook as a guide,” said Sibanda.
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