DURBAN – The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has intervened in the Ray Nkonyeni council mayoral problem.
The municipality, which is based in Port Shepstone, is the only one operating without a mayor and deputy in the lower South Coast. The council failed on two occasions to elect a mayor, a deputy as well as chief whip because of infighting over who should be mayor.
ANC councillors are divided with some pushing for Sikhumbuzo “Zero” Mqadi while others want Sibusiso Shange to be mayor.
Provincial ANC spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela told the Daily News on Monday that the matter will be discussed in the provincial executive committee (PEC) which began on Monday morning.
Ntombela said the PEC will first receive a report from the regional task team then take a decision.
The provincial secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli told the SABC on Sunday that the party will not be bullied by councillors who wanted a mayoral candidate who was not recommended by the interview panel.
During the nomination process, the region sent three names including Mqadi’s, but after interviewing them the panel requested the region to send another three names where Shange was recommended. It is not clear why the panel did not select from the first three names that were sent by the region which angered Mqadi’s supporters who suspected nepotism.
The party’s national executive committee (NEC) appointed Sibusiso Shange as mayor, but Mqadi’s supporters said they would never allow him to take over.
During the first sitting three weeks ago, the council managed to elect a speaker. However, when it came to electing a mayor and deputy, the meeting collapsed after factions failed to agree on the name favoured by the NEC.
Last Friday, the council meeting ended without electing a mayor and deputy because councillors supporting Mqadi rebelled again.
A councillor in Mqadi’s camp, who asked not to be named, told the Daily News that they would rather be governed by the opposition than allow the ANC to impose a mayor on them, adding that Mqadi was politically and administratively senior to Shange.
ANC regional task team convener, a position equivalent to the chairperson, Phumlile Mthiyane, said last week that although the NEC’s decision was final, they were still consulting with branches because installing Shange as mayor while there were still people complaining would cause endless protests.
She said branches must understand that it was the national leadership that selected Shange, and the region and province had no powers to overturn the decision.
Daily News