New Nquthu broom pledges to sweep clean

06 June 2017 - 17:34 By Nathi Olifant
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Newly elected Nquthu Municipality Mayor Siyabonga Mabilabila Kunene.
Newly elected Nquthu Municipality Mayor Siyabonga Mabilabila Kunene.
Image: THULI DLAMINI

His name means "thank you"‚ and one of the first things newly-installed Nquthu mayor Siyabonga Mabilabila Kunene did was thank his god‚ Shembe‚ for his election as the rural KwaZulu-Natal municipality's first citizen.

Then‚ Kunene pledged to sweep the Nquthu Municipality "squeeky clean" of the dirt left behind by the previous administration.

"First and foremost I wish to thank the god I worship‚ uNyazilwezulu ("thunder of the heavens"). I'm a Nazareth Baptist‚" said the bearded Kunene‚ who insisted to the SABC television and radio crew that he will conduct the interview only in Zulu.

Outlining his plans‚ Kunene said the IFP has demanded that he deliver on the party's election manifesto.

"I must say‚ key to all of this is water‚ electricity and roads provision. However‚ water is our key priority. We are aware that water provision is the discipline of the uMzinyathi District council but we have proposed to build a reservoir to store and bank water especially for Nquthu‚" said Kunene.

"God has given us an opportunity to lead and one day we will account for it‚" he said.

The man‚ who himself is facing criminal charges along with five of his comrades‚ also pledged to launch a forensic investigation into the affairs of the ANC-NFP administration which governed the town between 2011 and 2016.

"We will launch a probe and that will be the first item during the first sitting of the full council later this month. When you arrive to occupy a new house you have to do spring-cleaning to rid it of snakes‚ dirt and debris. If we do not undertake the probe it will taint all of us and we will be complicit to everything that happened here. I will do that without fear or favour. I'm a Nazareth and I lead God's people without patronage‚" he said.

Kunene brushed aside the charges against him‚ saying that it was merely politics. He said the charges were frivolous and nefarious and would not stand.

"No one wants to lose a municipality that easily. Our enemies' plans were to put rocks and hurdles in our path as we marched to victory. They were hoping it was so serious we would be released after the elections‚ but we won uNyazilwezulu's favour and power‚" he said.

-TMG Digital/TimesLIVE

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