A bruising defeat to the IFP and the DA efforts to oust the eThekwini mayor at a full council meeting in Durban on Wednesday has unleashed a storm of blame-game.
The IFP has slammed the conduct of eThekwini speaker Thabani Nyawose and those of smaller parties after their unsuccessful bid to oust mayor Mxolisi Kaunda.
Kaunda narrowly survived a second motion of no-confidence vote in less than a year.
The motion was opposed by 109 of the 209 councillors present, with two abstaining while 98 were in support.
The smaller parties took a five-minute caucus break just before the voting commenced.
When they returned, there was the notable absence of ADeC leader Visvin Reddy, who had indicated he would support the motion before the break.
IFP caucus leader Mduduzi Nkosi — who had filed the motion — criticised Nyawose for not making the vote a secret ballot and not entertaining opposition councillors who were complaining about the change in ANC numbers from 93 to 94 just before the vote.
“All those factors made us see that the speaker is manipulating the system. You can see that he is autocratic, but obviously they are working on a mandate given to them by their political parties,” he told TimesLIVE Premium.
Nkosi also questioned the reason for the change of heart by some councillors and Reddy’s no-show after the break.
He alleged that those parties may have accepted money from the ANC behind the backs of their party leaderships.
“Those who supported the ANC, I wish their voters had watched them and realised how desperate they are for money. I’m talking about the smaller parties who asked for a caucus (break) and changed their tune when they came back,” he said.
“It’s a pity that councillors are taking cash here, so that they vote with the ANC, but their leaders are not part of that arrangement.”
He claimed the reason for the caucus break was to sway others to vote with the ANC, with APF leader Muzi Hlengwa as the ringleader.
“The leader of that was Hlengwa, who was busy lobbying other parties. It shows that demands and promises were made outside and they came back and changed, even those who wanted to vote with us.”
I think it’s just sour grapes. You must accept the loss, as a matter of principle. I represent APF and I get mandate from my party. You can persuade me, so I speak to my party to say we may be voting towards this direction, but at the end of the day we all live by our party lines.
— APF leader Muzi Hlengwa
However, Hlengwa dismissed the allegations as “hogwash”.
“I think it’s just sour grapes. You must accept the loss, as a matter of principle. I represent APF and I get a mandate from my party. You can persuade me, so I speak to my party to say we may be voting towards this direction, but at the end of the day we all live by our party lines.”
He conceded that the municipality was not doing well but argued that the IFP and DA were trying to take over eThekwini “through the backdoor”.
He said their votes were to ensure continuity and stability in the city, pointing out there had been too many changes in the leadership in a short space of time — after the NFP’s Zandile Myeni and EFF’s Themba Mvubu replaced Philani Mavundla as deputy mayor and human settlements and infrastructure committee heads, respectively.
“We’re not saying Mxolisi Kaunda is right, but we are working towards pushing him to do what he’s supposed to do. There are projects that he started which we want him to see out, and without stability we won’t achieve anything.”
Imtiaz Syed of the Active Citizens Coalition echoed similar sentiments about stability, saying the timing wasn’t right.
“We believe firmly that the mayor’s removal is something that should not be done now, for the sake of stability and continuity of whatever little service delivery we might have. If this motion was to be tabled after the national election, as ACC, we might support it depending on what the entire turnaround strategy might look like.”
He said removing Kaunda would likely have caused chaos because there was no clear way forward.
“We have not been caucused at all regarding the way forward after the removal of the mayor. Who would he be replaced with? Will this coalition of forces remain intact on the entire strategy to turn this city leadership around?”
The DA’s Bradley Singh, who is a councillor in Phoenix, Verulam and Tongaat — areas that have experienced extreme water cuts for several months and raised their dissatisfaction at protests recently, posted a video to remind residents which parties had “sold you out” during the meeting.
He listed the smaller parties, including Active Citizen’s Coalition, Minorities of SA, People’s Freedom Party, as those who voted to keep this “useless mayor”.
“The Minority Front abstained, as usual. They are as dead as a dodo. The TikTok wannabe from ADeC, Visvin Reddy, during the time of the vote, he disappeared and was nowhere to be seen.
“He put on vanishing cream and suddenly disappeared. He failed to stand with the residents of Phoenix, Verulam and Tongaat by running away from the meeting. Tomorrow when you don’t have water, remember which parties sold you out,” Singh said.
In response, Reddy said before walking out of the council meeting, he was clear that he would support the motion.
“I have been speaking out against the incompetence of the ANC in the city for a long time now. So why did I decide to leave the meeting? I found out some of the smaller parties were undecided on the matter and some were going to be voting against the motion.
“It became clear to me that we didn’t have the deciding vote and that some of the smaller parties had betrayed the citizens of Durban. I was right,” Reddy said.
He said he had heard that one of the leaders of the smaller parties had tried to negotiate a mayoral position in exchange for supporting the motion.
“I don’t play political games. When I realised this vote wasn’t going to make a difference, I decided to leave the meeting. That’s my right, I’m not accountable to anyone outside my party, my God and my conscience.”
Reddy said he was frustrated by the “false narrative and propaganda” of DA attacks.
“They are trying to distract from their own shortcomings. Some DA wards also experiencing service delivery challenges. Stop with the political games and the attacks, it doesn’t put water in the taps,” said Reddy.
PFP’s Tariq Mohammed also issued a statement in response to criticism over their vote, saying the ANC wasn’t to blame for the water woes and that the IFP and DA were also part of the problem.
“While the IFP has tabled this motion, the People’s Freedom Party, along with other parties, either abstained or voted in favour of retaining mayor Kaunda. We believe it is imperative to explain our decision in light of the current water crisis and the broader challenges facing our municipality.
“The root causes of the water shortages, as outlined by mayor Kaunda, include storms, ageing infrastructure, a decommissioned aqueduct, and vandalism. However, it is crucial to note that the eThekwini municipality, has grappled with an ageing and ailing water infrastructure for decades. Therefore, the responsibility for this issue cannot be placed solely on the current mayor.”
Mohammed said, while there were shortcomings of the current administration with respect to irregular updates to residents surrounding the water crisis, the blame should be collectively shouldered by all parties that have played a role in governing the municipality, long before Kaunda’s appointment.
“The DA and IFP cannot claim moral high ground in seeking to remove mayor Kaunda. They, more than mayor Kaunda, bear responsibility for the current water crisis. The People’s Freedom Party is committed to a principled approach, devoid of opportunism.”
Meanwhile, Mvubu said they supported the motion because the ANC had not engaged them about this item, despite its importance, and that they were “unapologetic” about their vote.
“With the attitude they display from time to time, I don’t think they have accepted that they don’t command the majority here any more. It was important to remind them that we don’t report to them ... we vote with them on certain decisions, but if we’re not happy with a particular matter we will vote against it.”
He said they would continue “co-operating” with the ANC on matters they agree with and oppose them on those they don’t agree on.
Nkosi said the failure of their motion was not “the end of the story” and that they would continue supporting any party that raises similar motions.
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