Political clash in KwaZulu-Natal: Mndebele disputes Rodgers' claims on departmental administration

 Mafika Mndebele, the chairperson of the portfolio committee on Economic Affairs and Tourism, has responded with a fiery rebuttal to KwaZulu-Natal Finance MEC Francois Rodgers recent utterances on governance in the province.

This clash follows Rodgers' assertion that he possessed the unilateral authority to place provincial departments into administration, a claim Mndebele categorically dismissed as misleading and devoid of legal backing.

Speaking to members of the Democratic Alliance (DA) over the weekend, Rodgers invoked Section 16 of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) to justify his claim of authority over departmental administration.

However, Mndebele has since clarified the limitations of this section, and stated: “The facts are simple.

"Section 16 of the PFMA only gives the national Minister of Finance power to release limited emergency funds in exceptional cases; it has nothing to do with administration.”

In a detailed rebuttal, Mndebele explained that at the provincial level, it was Section 25 of the PFMA that applied, allowing finance MECs to authorise emergency funding of up to 2% of the provincial budget.

He emphasised the necessity for reporting to the legislature within 14 days and including such allocations in the adjustments budget, “That's all,” he added, firmly establishing the legal boundaries of the finance MEC's role.

Mndebele also highlighted that the constitutionally sanctioned powers to impose administration over state bodies stem from Section 100, which outlined national intervention in provinces, while Section 139 related specifically to provincial interventions in municipalities.

“The PFMA is not the source of such powers,” Mndebele said  to drive home the point that the MEC for Finance holds several responsibilities, including issuing Provincial Treasury Instructions, enforcing the PFMA, investigating financial systems, and safeguarding public funds.

However, he reiterated that these do not equate to the authority to take over an entire department.

With scrutiny of his utterances growing appreciably, Rodgers appeared to backtrack from his earlier assertions. Through his spokesperson Nkosikhona Duma, he acknowledged that the Provincial Treasury’s role indeed centred on promoting and enforcing transparency in financial management and intervention, in case of substantial breaches of the Act.

Siboniso Duma, the MEC for Transport and Human Settlements, also joined the fray, vehemently challenging Rodgers' claims regarding the purported corruption within the scholar transport programme.

Duma said that the Executive Council, comprising both the Finance MEC and Education MEC Sipho Hlomuka, were collectively tasked to formulate an actionable response concerning the impending budget cuts affecting scholar transport services.

Regarding the discussions between the departments, he said, “The meeting held on 5th June 2025 in the provincial legislature reflected serious economic challenges that mandate effective management of resources.

"Significant budget cuts risk disrupting educational access for many students, which is alarming.”

Duma characterised the narrative propagated by the Provincial Treasury as “selective” and rooted in a narrow mindset, pointing to prior agreements made in meetings that stress a cohesive approach to educational transport management rather than scapegoating departments for existing issues.

DAILY NEWS