DURBAN - The daggers are drawn for embattled Zululand Municipality mayor Thulasizwe Buthelezi, who faces a threatening motion of no confidence after less than five months in office.
The motion was tabled by the ANC after the revelation that the municipality was hanging on a fiscal cliff after the mayor allegedly squandered R240 million on personal security for himself and his wife.
The ANC chief whip in the municipality, Khaya Khumalo, told the Daily News on Sunday that on Tuesday would be the last day for Buthelezi as a mayor.
He said their call for the mayor’s removal also has the blessing of IFP councillors who were not happy with his management style, adding that many IFP members did not want Buthelezi to be mayor hence the party failed to win enough votes to govern alone, dropping to 47%, which forced a coalition with the EFF.
“Apart from the R240 million which was squandered by the mayor from July to December last year, we have (also) discovered another fruitless expenditure of R127 million. The people of Zululand would suffer if the mayor continued to run this municipality, so tomorrow (on Tuesday) we will take him out, and we just need one vote to do that,” said Khumalo.
The motion is to be preceded by a community march on Monday, organised by ANC youth league member Lindo Xulu in his capacity as a community leader. According to the march details, the meeting point is the old legislature building in Ulundi before moving to the municipal offices, which are less than a kilometre away.
In a statement released by one of the march organisers, Sanele Kunene, he said that the march was for the removal of mayor Buthelezi from the Zululand District Municipality “because of corruption”.
“As the Zululand community across all political lines and sectors of society, we have noted the public outrage on the Facebook page of our corrupt-ridden Zululand District Municipality. For the record, no political party has authorised the march for the removal of the mayor,” said Kunene.
He dismissed that the march was against King Misuzulu, saying it was deliberately distorted by those who were against the march.
Kunene said they expected the mayor to understand that the Municipal Systems Act obliged municipalities to establish procedures for receiving and responding to petitions and complaints lodged by members of the community.
On Friday, the ANC in the province issued a statement saying it had received calls from the IFP councillors who were against the appointment of the technical director.
In a statement issued by the municipality on Friday, it blamed the ANC for spreading fake news that the mayor had spent R240m on his personal security.
“The municipality never spent R240 million on the mayor’s security. This is absurd and totally untrue,” read the statement.
The mayor’s situation was also compounded by the fall-out between himself and the EFF.
Earlier this month, it was reported that deputy mayor Thulani Ndlovu, who is an EFF member, was embarrassed when the municipality confiscated a municipal car he was in while on his way to an EFF event.
EFF provincial chairperson Vusi Khoza said if the IFP goes into the motion divided, his party would abstain because it did not want to get into its factional battles.
The IFP managed to retain power through an EFF single vote.
The IFP got 18 seats, while the ANC and NFP coalition also gathered the same number, leaving the EFF to decide which party governs. It eventually voted with the IFP, which in turn rewarded the EFF with the deputy position.
National IFP spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said: “The ANC is clutching at straws and consistent with their modus operandi of making our municipalities ungovernable because they are bitter sore losers since November 1. IFP councillors will vote to reject the desperate and cheap politics of the ANC.”
Daily News