ANC to reveal conditions of mayor’s leave of absence
THE ANC in KwaZulu-Natal is expected to formally announce the conditions of the 30 days leave of absence for its eThekwini mayor and regional chairperson, Zandile Gumede, tomorrow after a two-day lekgotla.
While waiting for the announcement yesterday, Gumede herself confirmed that her leave begins today and she has accepted the party’s instruction to vacate the mayoral office.
Speaking to our sister publication, Isolezwe yesterday, Gumede said she was asked by the party’s highest provincial decision-making body to vacate office.
“After I was arrested, the top five of the ANC leadership in KZN said I needed to take a decision to go on special leave but my lawyers advised me not to do so, and said the ANC must take a decision because if I do so it would look like I am making an admission of guilt,” said Gumede, adding that her 30-day leave would start tomorrow.
Gumede vowed that she was not going to resign as mayor. “I am not going to resign because if I do so it will be like I am pleading guilty for something I did not do.
“After the resolution of the ANC PEC (provincial executive committee), from tomorrow (today), I am going to take a leave of absence.”
It was not immediately clear what would happen in the 30 days while she will be away.
Her deputy, Fawzia Peer, is expected to act in the position. A source close to Gumede said she was expected to address municipal staff about the latest political developments and leave.
The party’s decision to place Gumede on special leave comes as she is dealing with fraud and corruption charges emanating from a R208 million waste tender and a separate probe by the Hawks into whether she violated her bail conditions.
The party also took a decision to disband the eThekwini regional executive committee while preparing for a regional conference billed for October. To prepare for the conference, the party appointed Mluleki Ndobe and Kwazi Mshengu as convener and co-ordinator to oversee the process.
Political analyst Xolani Dube said the 30-day suspension shows that the ANC in KZN was applying its policies differently as another tainted mayor, Dr Ntuthuko Mahlaba of Newcastle, was still in office.
“This is very confusing. “Others are left alone while others are forced… I don’t think she will go down alone. I see her bitterly fighting back before leaving her position,” Dube said.
Meanwhile, earlier yesterday, a defiant Gumede, speaking for the first time since the PEC’s decision, said she was a “wounded warrior who has been wounded by her own comrades”.
Gumede used former president Jacob Zuma’s favourite signature song Sengimanxebanxeba zinsizwa zangakithi, zinsizwa engakhula nazo (I am deeply wounded because of injuries inflicted by my own brothers) to drum up public sympathy.
She said this yesterday at the funeral of councillor Bonke Amstrong Chilli of ward three in eThekwini.
Present at the funeral were some members of the party who are close to her like Nkosenhle Madlala, a councillor and Neli Nyanisa, the ANC’s chief whip in eThekwini municipality.