While the dust has barely settled since the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa that the founding National Assembly speaker, Frene Ginwala has died, the country has again been rocked by yet another high-profile death.
MEC for Cogta in KwaZulu-Natal, honorable Sihle Zikalala, has this afternoon confirmed that the municipal manager of the Ugu district municipality, Dr. Elliot Ntombela, has sadly passed away this morning following a short illness. He was in his early 60s.
Zikalala posted on his department’s official Twitter account that Dr. Ntombela, wherein he waxed lyrical about his significant contribution in the local government sphere, indicating that his death has indeed robbed the province of its most valuable human resource in Dr. Ntombela.
“This morning, we learned with shock and sadness of the passing of Dr. Eliiot Ntombela, who was the municipal manager of the Ugu District Municipality. Dr. Ntombela’s passing this morning, following a short illness, leaves a gaping hole within the sphere of local government within our province,” he said.
He went further to send a clarion call to the officials in the Ugu district municipality, urging them to ensure progress is made on the developmental work which Dr. Ntombela had embarked upon.
“As we mourn his passing, we are certain that the work that he had started in the district will be a solid foundation for the ongoing work of stabilising the municipality,” he added.
Ntombela’s untimely death is a huge blow to the municipality in Ugu, and the broader KZN, mainly considering that he has worked at a myriad of municipalities to help steadying their finances, and ensuring services were rendered to the locals.
He was a thoroughly educated and experienced man, with a PhD in Administration attained at the University of KwaZulu Natal, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) obtained at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University in the United Kingdom, a Master of Education (MEd) obtained at the University of the Free State and a Bachelor of Education (BEd) from the University of Zululand. The man was a walking encyclopaedia.
He is survived by three sons.
