Zandile Gumede faces chop from board of Durban Point Development Company

Former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede and a coterie of her lieutenants are to be replaced as directors on the board of the Durban Point Development Company (DPDC) – a company established to develop the Point Waterfront with projects worth an estimated R30 billion.

The executive committee on Tuesday deliberated for about 30 minutes over the proposed candidates to take over from the four, following a proposal by the city’s Economic Development and Planning unit. The proposal was to remove Gumede, former speaker William Mapena and former exco councillor Mondli Mthembu, but to retain Sipho Kaunda; they were also DPDC board directors.

The unit proposed that with the new political leadership in place, a need arose to replace the current municipal representatives appointed to the board in 2017 with members of the new ­leadership. “With the recent completion of the Point Waterfront promenade, interest in the precinct has grown, resulting in development enquiries that require board decisions. Discussions with the management of the DPDC require us to review the Special Zone 91 to ensure alignment with the ever-changing market conditions,” reads the proposal.

The unit sought to have the council approve the nomination of mayor Kaunda, his brother Sipho (the only member of the old exco to return after the old members were removed), council speaker Weziwe Thusi and human settlements and infrastructure committee chairperson Thanduxolo Sabela to replace previous council representatives. The DPDC is a 50:50 joint venture between eThekwini Municipality and ROC Point (majority-owned by UEM Sunrise Berhad, a Malaysia-based property development company).

The Point Waterfront project, which is to be undertaken in three phases over the next four to seven years, comprises developments including a hotel, residential flats and a mall. The city reportedly estimated that 11 000 jobs a year would be created during the construction phase of the project, and 6750 permanent jobs. However, the opposition parties would have none of the nominations, questioning the legality of the process and the nomination of the two Kaundas.

The IFP’s Mdu Nkosi argued that the Kaundas should not be part of the nomination process, given that both their names were on the list. Deputy Mayor Belinda Scott said there was no harm in having the nominees on the list as there was no financial gain by being on the company board, and it was “just work with no extra pay”. However, the DA’s Thabani Mthethwa said an issue of procedure was in question.

“Stop assuming that we are making this about individuals. The implementation phase will be dealt with later, once we clear the issue of procedure,” Mthethwa said. DA caucus leader Nicole Graham said the code of conduct for councillors stated that there was a conflict of interest if a councillor was appointed on a board or directorship, regardless of whether there was a financial interest.

“You cannot sit and vote or be part of a discussion to appoint yourself, or a family member in the case of the mayor, to a board of a company, and I think that should have been cleared up at the outset. Secondly, the Municipal Systems Act and the Municipal Finance Management Act both state that councillors cannot serve on boards where the municipality has a stake or owns shares effectively. The law is not flexible when it comes to what councillors can or cannot do,” she said.

Mayor Kaunda said the investors had been raising the dysfunctionality of the board as an issue, and that with further delays in the project they might take their investment elsewhere. “Their requirement is for us to have representatives on the board appointed within the law. They feel that the city is not serious about this investment and have given an ultimatum to convene in January, or else. I caution that if we don’t rectify this, we’re on the verge of losing this investment,” Kaunda appealed to exco members.

Party caucuses and whips have until tomorrow to deliberate further on the item and to come up with their informed inputs. Gumede said she had no problem with being removed as a director if that was what the current city leaders wanted. She said the recent opening of the revamped promenade showed that the development was needed.