Well, thank you very much, I am not aware of this allegation that section 139 is being utilised as a political tool to settle scores. What I am aware of is that before you implement section 139, there is an assessment that you make and it is not only the province that takes that step; the province can recommend
the implementation of section 139 but there should be concurrence with the National Council of Provinces.
SO, there is no way that one ... probably a province or an MEC in a province can utilise this instrument for political gains.
An assessment is made of the functioning of the municipality and if it is found that a municipality cannot deliver services because of a certain number of shortcomings, therefore, there is no other way besides introducing a curatorship or introducing an administrator to administer the municipality for a certain duration until we are satisfied that services have been brought back to our people. So, I don't concur that we use section 139 for political gains.
In the case of KwaZulu-Natal, where the hon member comes from, you'll realise that the provincial government made an assessment on a number of municipalities. Out of that assessment, decisions were made, either those that affected political leadership or affected managers. Thank you very much.