Endumeni Local Municipality is an administrative area in the Umzinyathi District of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and means “a place of thunderstorm” in isiZulu. Being at the heart of the KwaZulu- Natal battlefields, Endumeni is a dynamic, developmentally focused Municipality working in partnership with all its people for the promotion of the sustainable, harmonious and balanced development of its urban and rural communities.
The municipality has four political parties in council. The ANC and IFP have 5 seats respectively, while the the DA got 2 and ABC got 1.
The mayor of a municipality with a collective executive system has the following statutory powers and functions in terms of the Municipal Structures Act:
(a) presides at meetings of the executive committee; (b) performs the duties, including any ceremonial functions, and exercises the powers delegated to her/him by the municipal council or the executive committee and (c) determine the date, time and venue of ordinary and special executive committee meetings.
The speaker’s role in a municipality is key to ensuring oversight, accountability, integrity, discipline of office, and the efficient running of council meetings. As such, impartiality in the exercise of his or her function is essential for the speaker. The speaker must distinguish between his or her activities as a politician and his or her functions as a speaker. It also means that the function of the speaker and the non-partisan exercise of that function must be respected by members, parties and interests represented in the council.
