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Durban - The chaotic special council sitting of the Nongoma Local Municipality has been moved to Tuesday after it could not proceed on Monday as previously planned.
The much-anticipated meeting was called by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) after the municipality’s speaker, Bheki Zulu and later the municipal manager, allegedly refused to convene it.
This was after they were petitioned by councillors of the ANC, NFP (National Freedom Party) and the EFF who want to remove Zulu and the mayor, Albert Mncwango, who are both from the IFP.
They allegedly refused, forcing the ANC and NFP to approach Cogta to intervene, angering Mncwango who claimed that the petition was flawed, hence the council was not implementing it.
He also accused Cogta of doing the political bidding of the ANC.
When Cogta officials arrived at the offices on Monday morning, they found the gates blocked with a pile of sand.
Also in front of the gates were people wearing IFP T-shirts who were singing struggle and Zulu traditional war songs and carrying sticks, blocking the gates.
WATCH: Sticks carrying supporters of the IFP singing outside the offices of the Nongoma local municipality in northern KwaZulu-Natal amid a chaotic special council sitting which started on a bad note when gates were blocked. The sitting has been moved to Tuesday. @IOL pic.twitter.com/P38dBQOiTj
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) February 20, 2023
After hours of pushing, members of the SAPS were able to remove them and open the gates.
Reports from the grounds suggested that the police had to use rubber bullets to disperse the IFP supporters.
Thereafter the councillors went to the chambers for their special sitting and more chaos erupted.
In one video shared with IOL, a councillor was seen standing on top of a table while singing, “Wawuyaphi ungaphethe sibhamu? – Where were you going without a gun?”
In another video, two councillors who were half-naked after removing their shirts were heard shouting at top of their voices, “Who are these people!” They then told them to leave.
WATCH: The ongoing chaos at Nongoma local municipality - some councillors are standkng on tables and singinb. It is now feared that the sitting will collapse. @IOL pic.twitter.com/qAQYcTUsM4
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) February 20, 2023
This was directed at the Cogta delegation that was sent to the municipality to convene the special sitting.
After being locked inside, the meeting was adjourned to Tuesday and there was nothing official from Cogta while that decision was taken.
In a statement, the ANC in the Mzala Nxumalo region (Zululand district) said it “strategically opted for the adjournment of the special council meeting”.
“The mayhem caused today was planned, controlled and unleashed on the instruction of IFP leadership which behaves as if it has absolute power without constitutional limitations.
UPDATE: Councillors of Nongoma local municipality were eventually able to access the municipal chambers. The speaker, Bheki Zulu and whips of parties had a meeting with the COGTA delegation tasked with convening the special council sitting as requested by the ANC & NFP. @IOL pic.twitter.com/MkAntqKogf
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) February 20, 2023
“Fearing losing control of the municipality, the IFP used sand and other objects to block the entrance to the offices.
“Voting should have taken place today – to free local residents from the IFP misrule and dictatorship,” the ANC said in a statement.
WATCH: This is the situation in Nongoma right now where people have blocked the entrance to the Nongoma local municipality, preventing a COGTA representative from convening a special council sitting requested by the ANC and NFP to topple the IFP Mayor, Albert Mncwango. @IOL pic.twitter.com/3D0zBnEefX
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) February 20, 2023
However, the IFP councillors, while addressing the media after the adjournment, denied the allegations that they were behind the chaotic scenes.
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