Online Reporter
Vusumuzi Dube, Deputy Radar Editor
BULAWAYO Mayor David Coltart violently walked out of a council meeting recently, shouting that his colleagues were “shameless and a disgrace”, immediately after councillors unanimously voted to grant Town Clerk Christopher Dube a new contract running until 2030.
The controversial extension, which capitalises on the new Statutory Instrument 197/2024 increasing the retirement age to 70, was passed despite the Mayor’s opposition and without a performance review, discarding earlier advice to consult the Attorney General’s office.
The council also resolved to ignore an earlier suggestion from the Minister of Local Government and Public Works, Daniel Garwe, to seek a legal consultation with the Attorney General’s office concerning the new retirement age legislation.
According to a confidential council document, the councillors initially agreed that Mr Dube’s contract would be extended to November 2026, followed by a further four-year extension, taking him up to 2030.
They maintained there was no proof to suggest the Town Clerk was “failing to perform his duties and responsibilities satisfactorily, despite working with limited resources and outdated equipment.”
This latest decision supersedes an initial recommendation from the Council’s General Purposes Committee. That committee had proposed a one-year contract extension for Mr Dube, under existing terms, until 30 November 30, 2026. Concurrently, the Bulawayo City Council was to seek an official opinion from the Civil Division of the Attorney General, via the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, on how Statutory Instrument 197/2024 applied to existing fixed-term contracts.
This earlier direction had been the result of a meeting attended by Mayor Coltart, Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution for Bulawayo Metropolitan Province Judith Ncube, Minister Garwe, Deputy Minister Albert Mavhunga, Mr Dube, and a senior solicitor from Clr Coltart’s legal practice.
In the latest development, councillors opted to abandon the suggestion of consulting the Attorney General’s office. Instead, they decided to augment Mr Dube’s contract by four additional years, to commence immediately after the initial one-year extension expires in November 2026.
The council report captures the heated debate, starting with Clr Mxolisi Mahlangu’s proposal.
“Councillor Mxolisi Mahlangu stated that while the advice by the Honourable Minister to get a legal opinion was accepted and respected, in his view, it does not preclude the council from deciding on the matter.
“In that regard, he proposed that in addition to the three recommendations by the General Purposes Committee, a fourth recommendation should be that at the termination of the one-year contract on 30 November 2026, the Town Clerk’s contract should be extended by four years until the retirement age of 70.”
The Mayor challenged the move, questioning whether the extension could be granted without a performance review.
“The Mayor asked whether this should be done without evaluating the performance of the Town Clerk. Councillor Mahlangu explained that there is no record indicating the Town Clerk is failing to perform his duties and responsibilities satisfactorily, despite working with limited resources and equipment,” the report states.
A majority of councillors supported Clr Mahlangu’s proposal, effectively waiving the need for a vote by stating they were all in agreement, the only exception being the chairperson, Clr Coltart.
“The Mayor asked whether the views of residents and other stakeholders should be disregarded in considering this matter. Clr Nkosinathi Hove-Mpofu expressed that policymakers were elected by residents to make decisions and they were doing just that.
“The Mayor suggested the matter be put to a vote. Clr Mellissa Mabeza explained that it was unnecessary to vote because council was not completely changing the recommendations of the General Purposes Committee, but merely amending them by adding one more recommendation to make four,” reads the report.
The councillors then advised Clr Coltart, in his capacity as chairperson, to respect the proposals from the chamber and, if he disagreed, to offer counter-proposals rather than simply dismissing theirs.
“Councillor Hove-Mpofu stated that the consensus in the house was that the Town Clerk be given four years after the expiry of the one-year contract. He advised the Mayor not to appear as though he was standing in the way of a decision.
“Councillor Ashton Mhlanga reminded the house that the proposal submitted earlier was still before councillors and the chairperson must subject it to a vote. At this point, the Mayor expressed that it was impossible to have a free and fair vote under those circumstances. He banged the gavel and left the meeting at 7.15pm, shouting that councillors were shameless and a disgrace,” reads the report.
Following the Mayor’s departure, the remaining councillors, who constituted a quorum, elected Clr Mahlangu to chair the remainder of the meeting. Under his chairmanship, they formally and unanimously endorsed the extension of Mr Dube’s contract — initially for one year to November 2026, followed by a further four years until November 2030.
“All 28 councillors present voted for the proposal that the recommendations of the General Purposes Committee be amended to include that the Town Clerk’s contract should be extended by four years at the end of November next year, following the termination of the initial one-year contract,” reads the report.
