DURBAN - DIANA Hoorzuk is in line to be the new deputy mayor of the eThekwini Municipality.
Speaker Weziwe Thusi announced during a council meeting yesterday that the name of ANC member Hoorzuk has been put forward by the ANC to replace former deputy mayor Belinda Scott as a member of the Executive Committee. Scott left the municipality earlier this year.
ANC KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela confirmed to The Mercury that Hoorzuk had last been a member of council in the 2016 term.
Scott, who was brought in along with new political leaders, after the removal of then mayor Zandile Gumede, left this year to pursue personal endeavours.
Hoorzuk’s nomination to the executive committee was approved by full council. It is understood that Hoorzuk will have to be nominated for the deputy mayor vacancy and be sworn in.
The new deputy mayor will be in the position for a mere four months if the local government elections scheduled for October go ahead.
The position of deputy mayor has been a source of complaints for the opposition parties, as the ANC had delayed in making the appointment and the position has been vacant for more than three months.
DA councillor Nicole Graham said filling the post, at such a late stage, was almost pointless.
“Who is made deputy mayor is immaterial, as it is clear that one person – in a corrupt and broken system – can really do very little. The fact that it took the ANC this long to identify a candidate shows that it is deeply divided,” she said.
IFP councillor Mdu Nkosi said it was a surprise that someone who has not been a councillor for some time was chosen.
“We understand they have problems as the ANC and I think they are trying to neutralise the situation of factions. It’s clear they wanted someone who is not in the council, so it does not look like they appointed the deputy mayor from one faction and not the another,” said Nkosi.
Attempts to reach Hoorzuk were unsuccessful by the time of publication.
THE MERCURY