Election date for Nquthu‚ the municipality without a mayor

Elections for the dissolved Nquthu local municipality will be held in about two months time‚ according to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in KwaZulu-Natal.

After intense squabbling among political parties the volatile northern KwaZulu-Natal municipality was last month dissolved by the provincial cabinet‚ a decision later endorsed by the National Council of Provinces.

The council‚ which has been without mayor‚ deputy mayor and speaker for six months‚ tried six times to convene but the meetings‚ held in other towns such as Dundee and Pietermaritzburg‚ ended in chaos.

• Smaller parties will feel the pain in Nquthu by-electionThe Independent Electoral Commission in KwaZulu-Natal is not expecting a higher voter turnout when a re-run of the Nquthu elections is conducted in three months time - and it is the smaller parties that will feel the hurt. 

This was compounded by litigations as the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and National Freedom Party tried to hoof out councillors.

IEC spokesman Thabani Ngwira said provincial electoral officer Mawethu Mosery “will provide an update on the planned by-election for Nquthu next week.

During the August 2016 local government elections there were 77 097 registered voters in Nquthu and 44 951 voted‚ an increase from 40 572 in 2011.

• 'You've raped the Constitution' - IFP Youth Brigade lashes out at KZN MEC Nomusa Dube-NcubeInkatha Freedom Party Youth Brigade chairman Mkhuleko Hlengwa has accused KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube of politically raping the constitution by dissolving the defunct Nquthu Municipality. 

If this number goes down it is likely to cost smaller political parties such as the Democratic Alliance and the EFF‚ which each had a proportional representative seat before the dissolution of the council.

After last year’s elections the majority Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) was expected to govern the council. The party had 15 seats to the ANC's 14‚ while the NFP had two and the EFF and DA one seat each. The IFP needed the EFF and the DA to edge out an ANC/NFP coalition.

But the DA and the EFF are predicted to be wiped out after the elections on May 24.