Ulundi - The ANC-NFP alliance is in a political stalemate with the IFP-run Zululand district municipality over the mooted vote of no confidence against Mayor Thulasizwe Buthelezi and others.
The stalemate is over the eligibility of Sibusiso Nkosi from the NFP who signed the petition calling for the special sitting where they want to vote Buthelezi and others out.
The ANC and NFP councillors wrote to the speaker demanding that he should convene the urgent meeting to debate the motion.
NEWS: The NFP and ANC have made fresh attempts to force the Speaker of the IFP run Zululand district municipality to convene a special council sitting where they want to overthrow the Mayor, Rev Thulasizwe Buthelezi and others. However, in response to the request to have the
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) March 24, 2023
However, the speaker responded to the two parties and told them that their petition needed to meet the required number of councillors.
He pointed out that Nkosi is not a gazetted councillor according to their knowledge or official records.
The exchange is contained in heated letters from both parties where several sections of law governing the local government sphere are cited.
The dispute stems from the fact that Bethuel Nxumalo is currently occupying the NFP seat, yet the NFP claims that he was recalled and replaced with Nkosi.
But the Zululand district municipality is having none of it, saying only Nxumalo is the rightful councillor.
Last month Buthelezi told IOL that they would fight to ensure that Nxumalo’s rights as a councillor are protected.
That was after the KwaZulu-Natal department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) wrote to the district and asked it to remove Nxumalo as he was not the IEC gazetted councillor on behalf of the NFP.
Despite being from the NFP, Nxumalo openly defies his party which has a coalition pact with the ANC and he always votes with the IFP.
After hitting a snag with the speaker over the motion issues, the ANC and NFP councillors wrote to the municipal manager and asked him to convene the sitting on 30 March, 2023.
They said the municipal structures act empowers the municipal manager to call such a meeting if the speaker refuses to do so.
“It is against this background that we call upon you (the municipal manager) to invoke Section 29(1)(a) of the Municipal Structures Act by calling a special meeting…,” reads the letter, which was sent to the municipal manager, dated 23 March, 2023.
The municipality promised to respond regarding the matter and eventually failed to do so even when repeatedly asked for a comment.
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