Durban — The IFP has retained Abaqulusi Local Municipality under its control following the successful election of its new mayor and its speaker.
Eric Mkhwanazi and Nonkululeko Ndlela were duly elected as mayor and speaker respectively on Tuesday.
The IFP in the northern KwaZulu-Natal municipality had removed its mayor Mncedisi Maphisa and Mkhonyovu Khumalo as speaker following their public utterances which the party distanced itself from.
Mkhwanazi defeated the ANC’s Mthofi Khumalo for the mayorship position.
The municipal manager, Zwelihle Dlamini, told the Daily News on Tuesday that both the mayor and speaker were duly elected to close the vacant positions.
Although it was publicly unclear why Khumalo had resigned as speaker last week, he was heavily criticised when he was recorded instructing the municipal manager to find a job for the family members of the IFP councillor who had died in a car accident last year.
Maphisa’s removal stemmed from offensive language he had used when addressing a roadshow. He was said to have told the gathering that he was “the only bull which has authority over all mammals in kraal”.
His figurative speech was construed as him referring to female employees. The then-mayor was also accused of instructing managers not to employ anyone without his approval.
After a complaint, Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Bongi Sithole-Moloi asked the municipality to take action against Maphisa, and the Special Ethics Committee took over and investigated the matter.
The committee, under the chairmanship of DA councillor Swelakhe Shelembe, found mayor Mncedisi Maphisa guilty of misconduct.
The committee then recommended that the mayor be fired from his position as well as the councillor.
It also recommended that deputy mayor Mandla Mazibuko must lose his executive committee seat and become an ordinary councillor for 24 months.
The committee also found two other councillors guilty and recommended that they lose their Exco seats for 12 months and become ordinary councillors before being eligible to be reappointed to Exco. Mazibuko and the two other councillors were punished for refusing to testify against the mayor before the committee, which was viewed as misconduct.
Maphisa remained an ordinary councillor after resigning from Exco last week. He appealed against his dismissal as a councillor.
In the 43-seat council, the IFP has 21 seats. The ANC/NFP/EFF coalition also has 21 seats, but with the assistance of the DA with its two seats and one from the Freedom Front Plus, the IFP has managed to ward off the ANC coalition from advancing to power.
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Daily News