by Mayibongwe Maqhina
Durban - A game of musical chairs was played in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature on Monday as new Members of the Provincial Legislature (MPL) took seats previously occupied by members who had been deployed to various municipalities as mayors.
The IFP’s Princess Phumzile Buthelezi, daughter of IFP leader, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, was sworn in by Speaker Lydia Johnson in the place previously occupied by the party’s deputy leader, Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi.
The party’s deputy leader is scheduled to take up his new role as the mayor of Zululand District Municipality on Thursday.
Phumzile Mbatha-Cele, ANC regional deputy secretary in Emalahleni, replaced attorney, Makhosini Nkosi, who was last week sworn in as the mayor of Newcastle.
Speaking to the Daily News on Monday, ANC caucus spokeswoman, Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu, said Mbatha-Cele became the obvious choice to replace Nkosi as a public representative for Amajuba District.
“In terms of the policy of deployment, geographical spread is a consideration, so without Nkosi you would not have someone from Amajuba in the legislature. She (Mbatha-Cele) also comes from there,” Simelane-Zulu explained.
She said they expected Mbatha-Cele to contribute to the life of the caucus and the ANC in the legislature.
“We strongly believe that she has a serious role to play in the legislature,” Simelane-Zulu added.
Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi said although his new role did not mean much to him, he was born as a traditional leader to serve and service the people.
“Any platform that is there will further that responsibility,” he said.
He would not say what the top five challenges facing the Zululand District Municipality were pending his official election as the mayor in two days’ time.
Buthelezi, however, said he would ensure that he left a lasting legacy when his term in office ended.
He also said his wish was that the residents of the district be better off than they were before he took up his new role.
Meanwhile, earlier speculation that former eThekwini mayor, James Nxumalo, was to be sworn in as an ANC MPL did not materialise.
Asked if Nxumalo was one of the new MPLs before Mbatha-Cele was sworn in, ANC provincial spokesman, Mdumiseni Ntuli, said: “Not today. The secretary informed me only about Mbatha-Cele, unless the leadership decides otherwise.”
SACP provincial secretary, Themba Mthembu, said there had been a plan to redeploy Nxumalo – who is also SACP KZN chairman – to the legislature, but it was never officialised.
“We had asked that they withhold James’s redeployment because he had wanted to finish his studies. We left it there to allow him an opportunity to study,” Mthembu said about the apparent agreement.
While Mthembu was unsure of the studies Nxumalo was pursuing, he said he was in a third year.
Neither Nxumalo nor Ntuli could be reached to comment on this.
The Daily News understands that Nxumalo’s deployment to the legislature was mooted when Mthembu was elevated as an MEC after the provincial cabinet was reshuffled.
At the time it was expected that Nxumalo and Cosatu chairwoman, Beauty Zibula, were to take up vacancies that were quit by left-leaning MECs Peggy Nkonyeni and Mike Mabuyakhulu.
Instead, former ANC Youth League leader, Sifiso Sonjica, and former MPL, Nomakiki Majola, took up the vacancies.