Greytown - Settling into his office after the ousting of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), the new mayor of Umvoti (Greytown) local municipality, Philani PG Mavundla has set out his immediate goals.
Mavundla says he is not in office for personal benefit as he has achieved a lot in life before taking public office.
NEWS: The new mayor of Umvoti (Greytown) local municipality, Philani PG Mavundla says his party's relationship with the ANC only failed in eThekwini and it is working pretty fine elsewhere. He says he can work with anyone as long as they deliver services for the people.
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) June 24, 2023
He said this in an interview with IOL after taking office on Wednesday in a dramatic fashion where the IFP was ousted through a vote of no confidence.
The meeting had to be convened by the HoD (Head of Department) for the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Thando Tubane.
That was after allegations that the now-ousted IFP Speaker, Thando Dlamini was refusing to convene it even though the majority of ANC and ABC (Abantu Batho Congress led by Mavundla) had requested it.
WATCH: A previously unseen video of a confrontation between IFP councillors in Umvoti (Greytown) and CoGTA HoD, Thando Tubane on Wednesday. That was the day the ANC-ABC alliance ousted the IFP from the municipality after a bitter fight that involved the courts. @IOL pic.twitter.com/lzoRKIoVnJ
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) June 23, 2023
Mavundla who at some point around 2011 was the mayor of the same municipality and resigned a few years later, said he is ready for the task at hand.
“Mine is very simple, I decided to be a servant of the people regardless of my achievements, I am not a servant of the people because there is a need for me to benefit.
“God and ancestors have been on my side to lift me up, when I say I do, I really mean it, that’s why in eThekwini I was seen everywhere where no one in the leadership wanted to be, that’s where I was,” he said.
Moreover, Mavundla said in him, the people of Umvoti have elected the best leadership.
“I do believe that they have got the best of the best, I have seen it all in life, there is nothing more for me to see.
“But what is left for me is to translate what I have seen and make sure that our people get what is best for them.
“The whole intention here is to prove here that as a native Mayor we can make a difference because our people only have their hopes raised is when other races are in charge.
“That's the first hurdle that I have to cross,” he added.
He added that Umvoti is a sleeping giant and this is an opportunity for him to awaken it.
“Last night I articulated to you (during an interview with IOL) that Umvoti is a sleeping giant and this opens up for me to go out and do the best that I could,” he said.
Regarding his stint as eThekwini deputy mayor under the ANC and which ended in a bitter divorce when the ANC kicked him out through a vote of no confidence, Mavundla said his party’s working relationship with the ANC is fine.
“I do know that a whole lot of people are worried that is this relationship (with the ANC) gonna work this time around, it didn't work in Durban.
“But guess what, the relationship with the ANC (and the ABC) in Msunduzi is working fine, the relationship between the ANC and the ABC in Umziwabantu (Harding) is working very well.
“It is only in eThekwini where we had two men (he and Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda) who could not just work together.
“But let’s see if this time around if we can’t prove that I can work with anyone provided with agree that what is more important is service delivery to God’s people.”
Politics