The mayor of the trouble-torn Umkhanyakude district municipality in northern KwaZulu-Natal has been ousted after a motion of no confidence against him.
The ANC’s Siphile Mdaka was removed after the motion tabled by the IFP on Friday.
He was replaced by the IFP’s Comfort Khumalo.
Khumalo will have to vacate his position as mayor of Big 5 Hlabisa local municipality to assume his new role.
Thembinkosi Sibiya from the National Freedom Party (NFP) was retained as the deputy mayor after the ANC was thrashed in the last elections in the Umkhanyakude district.
Sibiya served in the same position under the ANC administration.
The leadership changes in Umkhanyakude came after co-operative governance and traditional affairs MEC MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi assigned deputy director-general Madoda Khathide to convene the special council meeting on Friday.
Due to fears of violence and disruption - as had happened before - the meeting was not held at the council chambers in Mkuze but convened in Hlabisa.
KwaZulu-Natal ANC spokesperson Fanle Sibisi said the conduct of the IFP raises serious questions about whether the party remains committed to the government of provincial unity (GPU) or whether it has chosen to secretly pursue alternative political arrangements at the expense of stability and unity in the province.
“The ousting of the ANC had nothing to do with the performance of the municipality, but it is clear that it was a brazen heist which had failed on previous occasions. Central to this crisis is the behaviour of the IFP’s Cogta MEC. Instead of exercising his constitutional mandate responsibly, MEC Buthelezi has repeatedly abused his office to undermine the ANC in UMkhanyakude district municipality,” said Sibisi.
He said Buthelezi started the “shenanigans by his failed attempt to place Umkhanyakude under administration”.
“Such actions were not only intended to erode the credibility of the ANC, but they also compromise the foundational principles of good governance, institutional integrity and co-operative leadership. Further evidence of bad faith was displayed in today’s scheduled meeting between the ANC and the IFP.
“The IFP delegation dishonestly requested a ‘10-minute caucus’ only to abscond without returning. This act of deception has exposed the IFP as unreliable, insincere and untrustworthy partners within the GPU framework. Their actions demonstrate a disturbing lack of political maturity and a disregard for the commitments both parties undertook when entering this unity arrangement, which may therefore lead to dire consequences for the IFP,” said Sibisi.
He said the the ANC will consult with the Nokuhamba Nyawo region in Mkuze, as well as provincial and national structures, to map a way forward in the best interests of the people of KwaZulu-Natal.
“The ANC will not allow its integrity to be compromised or its communities destabilised by those who claim unity in public, but practice sabotage in private. If the IFP has abandoned the spirit of unity, it must have the courage to publicly declare so rather than clandestinely pursuing cheap and deceitful manoeuvres,” said Sibisi.
TimesLIVE
