Ulundi - The ANC in the Mzala Nxumalo (Zululand) region has suffered a legal setback after one of the NFP councillors who deposed a supporting affidavit in the court case to remove councillor Bethuel Nxumalo from the Zululand district municipality (ZDM) abruptly withdrew.
The ANC want the Pietermaritzburg High Court to compel the IFP-run district municipality to remove Nxumalo and replace him with Sibusiso Nkosi.
In a letter sent to the leadership of the NFP in the region, ANC deployees, the ZDM Speaker and other litigants, Mdletshe, who is the 13th applicant in the matter, said he was lured by some of his NFP comrades.
BREAKING: The ANC in the Mzala Nxumalo (Zululand) region has suffered a major legal setback after one of the NFP councillors who deposed a supporting affidavit to the court case to remove Councillor Bethuel Nxumalo from Zululand district municipality (ZDM) abruptly withdrew his
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) April 20, 2023
He insisted that he never gave the ANC lawyers the power to include him in the matter.
The first applicant in the matter is Khaya Khumalo, the recently recalled ANC executive committee (Exco) member in the district municipality.
Khumalo is supported by nine other councillors from the ruling party, which includes Mxolisi Zulu and Bawinile Nhlabathi, the disgraced former mayor of uPhongolo local municipality.
The other applicants include NFP councillors in the district municipality like Siphamandla Ntombela, Jeremiah Mavundla and Sizwe Hadebe.
Also in the fray is Thulani Ndlovu, the only councillor of the EFF in the district municipality, which incorporates the towns of Vryheid (Abaqulusi), Dumbe, Pongola, Nongoma and it is anchored in Ulundi in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
NEWS: The NFP, supported by ANC and EFF councillors, has filed an urgent application with the Pietermaritzburg High Court where it wants a court order to remove its councillor, Bethuel Nxumalo and replace him with Sibusiso Nkosi. If they win, Nxumalo who is voting with the IFP,
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) March 25, 2023
Among the respondents are the speaker of the Zululand district municipality, the municipal manager, Nxumalo, the IEC and the MEC for KwaZulu-Natal Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Bongi Sithole-Moloi.
If the order is granted, Nxumalo, who is persistently defying his party (the NFP - which is a coalition partner of the ANC) by voting with the IFP, will be replaced by Nkosi.
The ANC, NFP and the EFF hope that the reign of Mayor Thulasizwe Buthelezi and other IFP political office bearers will be cut short through a vote of no confidence.
The ANC-NFP-EFF alliance, combined, has 19 seats, while the IFP, assisted by the DA, has 18 seats.
However, with the help of Nxumalo, the IFP ends up with 19 seats, and the ANC-NFP-EFF alliance ends up with 18 seats.
In his affidavit, Khumalo said the case is about the contravention of the Constitution (sections governing municipalities), where the speaker and the municipality are acting in cahoots.
He argued the alleged illegal acts of the two have resulted in Nxumalo being allowed to attend council meetings when he is not a councillor.
In the letter seen by IOL and dated 20 April 2023, Mdletshe outlines how he ended up supporting the court case.
“I was misadvised, misled, misinformed, lured, wrongly lobbied and wrongly influenced by some of my other comrades or colleagues, who are councillors representing the NFP in Zululand District Municipality, to sign this said matter. Hence, there was no party instruction, guidance and directive in this regard.
“Furthermore, there are no caucus resolutions, taken in terms of Section 11 of the NFP's Constitution, to deal with the matter and to institute legal proceedings in this regards.
“I wasn't (sic) involved in appointing, briefing and instructing M Dlamini Attorneys to represent me as I am also cited as the 13th applicant on this matter.
“Hence, I didn't also sign any power of mandate or attorney giving them an authority (sic) to represent me.
“Therefore, I appeal to M Dlamini Attorneys to urgently file a notice of withdrawal, to withdraw my name and themselves as attorneys representing myself as it is on current court records.
“It is within my belief (sic) and understanding now that we, as disciplined NFP deployees/ public representatives from Eleventh Applicant to Seventeenth Applicant, should have exhausted all internal party constitutional avenues or processes to handle and deal with the matter rather than abusing the courts of law and other government institutions.
“(I) hope you will find and deem this decision being within my feudal rights to uphold and protect the Constitution of the NFP as the Cllr/Public Representative of the NFP.
“Hence. I officially (sic) withdraw myself in these proceedings, hoping and giving a trust to internal party structures to have audacity and capacity to deal with its own internal political affairs without any interference,” Mdletshe said in the letter of withdrawal.
Mdletshe asked IOL to direct all questions regarding this matter to the leadership of the NFP.
The chief whip of the NFP in the district municipality, Ntombela, referred all questions to the chairperson of their caucus, Hadebe, who did not respond.
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