Durban - Three ANC senior officials who are accused of paying a DA councillor a R20 000 bribe were released on R7 500 bail each at the Vryheid Magistrate's Court on Friday.
The officials from the Abaqulusi District Municipality are Maria Buyisile Mabaso, 58, Nkosikhona Mdlalose, 48, and Zakhele Buthelezi, 43.
The three were arrested during a sting operation when the Hawks acted on a tipoff implicating them in a payment of a bribe to a member of another political party, Hawks KZN spokesperson Simphiwe Mhlongo said.
“The three were caught in the act of offering a R20 000 bribe to the said official,” he said.
Mhlongo said the three were arrested by the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigating unit for alleged corruption. They are expected back in court on January 16 2019.
The Abaqulusi District Municipality is a hung municipality with 21 ANC councillors, 19 IFP, 3 DA and 1 EFF.
The Mercury reported that one IFP councillor is on sick leave and if the DA councillor had taken the bribe, the numbers would have shifted in favour of the ANC, allowing the motion to carry. The voting status of the EFF leader was unclear.
IFP mayor Jerry Sibiya told The Mercury that the alleged bribe was an attempt at a coup d’etat. “We knew they wanted to remove the mayor, the deputy mayor, the speaker and to suspend the municipal manager.”
DA KZN leader Zwakele Mncwango said: “These people are looking to take over the municipality through the back door. They wanted our councillor to vote with them or miss the meeting. This is unethical. If there was something wrong that the speaker had done, they should have been open about it.
The ANC are yet to comment.