DURBAN - AN IFP leader in eThekwini has alleged that individuals close to the ANC had made several attempts to bribe him to vote with the ANC in this week’s crunch council meeting that decided the leadership of the municipality.
Long-serving IFP leader at council Mdu Nkosi said that two individuals, one a councillor and another a former city manager, had made financial and other inducements to get the IFP to vote with the ANC.
The ANC scraped through to victory and held on to the KwaZulu-Natal’s only metro, which was on the verge of being snatched by the opposition, by striking a deal with smaller opposition parties. The ANC decided to give up the deputy mayoral position to Abantu Batho Congress leader Philani Mavundla.
The former city manager and the councillor, whose names are known to The Mercury, both denied the allegations, describing them as lies and sour grapes.
Nkosi told The Mercury that a current ANC councillor had told him to “name” whatever he wanted.
“He said I could have the deputy mayor’s position or be the chairperson of human settlements.
“There were other inducements that came from business people close to the party – people tried to call me to meetings, and I just avoided them because I knew what those meetings were about.
“The councillor called and said you (Nkosi) can name whatever you want, we can even give you anything that you want, even the position of the deputy mayor. I said this is not about myself, it is about the people who voted, and since the people voted the ANC below 50% we had to respect the voters who made it clear they no longer wanted the ANC in power,” said Nkosi.
Nkosi added that he also received calls from a former city manager who said he was tasked with raising funds that would be used to bribe IFP politicians.
The former city manager denied the accusation.
“He was the one who called me on Wednesday, saying that people were being bought there.”
The councillor said: “It’s totally untrue, I had no mandate to negotiate on behalf of the ANC, the matter was handled at the provincial level. Nkosi is just bitter that the ANC won and the IFP lost on its agenda to give away municipalities to the DA through their anti-majoritarian alliance with the EFF.”
ANC spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela said they were not aware of the allegations, and no one was sanctioned by the ANC to bribe anyone.
THE MERCURY