Mavundla: ‘I’m not going anywhere’
Cogta says vote of no confidence stands
Umvoti Municipality’s Speaker and Mayor — both from the Abantu Batho Congress (ABC) — have dug in their heels and rejected their removal following a vote of no confidence tabled by both the African National Congress (ANC) and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).
This played out yesterday during a special council meeting in the Greytown Town Hall, called by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta). Shortly after the meeting started, disputed Mayor Philani Mavundla, who is the president of the ABC, told Cogta deputy director general Madoda Khathide, who chaired the meeting, that the event had been interdicted and produced court papers.
Mavundla said the Pietermaritzburg High Court had ordered the MEC for Cogta Bongiwe SitholeMoloi to respond as to why the meeting for these motions to be tabled should sit by August 6.
Disputed speaker Mfundo Masondo, who is the national chairperson of the ABC, said a court order from the Pietermaritzburg High Court had interdicted yesterday’s special council meeting.
After a 10-minute recess from the meeting, Khathide said the MEC’s office confirmed that a one-page court application with no order was received but it was late for them to appear in court. “No order has been conveyed to the department. The legal team had not received the court order. There is also no sheriff [of the court] to interdict this meeting,” said Khathide. He added that the department’s legal team was attending to the matter in court.
Khathide then continued with the meeting, at which the ANC and the IFP voted Mavundla and Masondo out after the ABC councillors walked out of the meeting saying it was illegal.
Masondo was replaced by Ntombi Ngubane, an ANC member and deputy mayor who had submitted her resignation as deputy mayor before accepting the appointment of the speaker. Mavundla was replaced by former mayor and IFP member Gabriel Malembe.
Masondo told The Witness that they were removed illegally and will continue doing their work as the mayor and speaker of Umvoti.
“The deputy director-general said he wanted to check if the office of the MEC received the court order and called for a recess. During that time, the ANC chairperson of the Inkosi Bhambatha region, Ntombi Ngubane, told the deputy director-general that they are executing a mandate, which was quite shocking and scary to me. After the recess, he said Cogta told him the meeting should continue,” said Masondo.
Masondo added that Khathide was in contempt of court by continuing with a meeting that had been interdicted by the court.
“I am still the speaker protected by the court order, Mavundla is also still the mayor until August 6. I don’t know if we’ll have a similar situation as the Nquthu Municipality and have two mayors and two speakers. We want to see what will happen here because what happened at that meeting is true corruption where the deputy general was told to go ahead of a mandate,” said Masondo.
Masondo said they challenged the joint ANC and IFP motions for the vote of no confidence because they were defective. He said some of the papers had no signatures while some had signatures but no names of those who signed.
Prior to the meeting, Mavundla and Masondo cleared their offices and packed their belongings in boxes and placed them next to municipal vehicles assigned to them.
Masondo said they packed their belongings to protect valuable and classified assets in case they were being “illegally” removed.
“The ANC has a silly belief that Mavundla is in favour of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party and that’s why they want us removed. Mavundla is clear that if he is elected as the premier of KZN, the province should be independent, and the ANC is against that.
“The ANC and IFP in Umvoti are trying to hide and defend the illegal things they did in the municipality,” said Masondo.
He added that their lives were still under threat, something he specified in the court application he submitted to the high court last month.
The newly elected speaker, Ngubane said the ANC’s coalition with the IFP started when Mavundla approached the IFP to have her removed as the deputy mayor.
“We worked well in the council as four political parties until Mavundla approached the IFP.
“We didn’t know that we were enemies even though we’d disagree on things. So as politicians we also approached the IFP and common issues made it possible for the coalition,” said Ngubane.
Ngubane added that the deputy mayor will be elected in due course.
Malembe, who was reelected as the mayor of Umvoti, said he was pleased to be back in office.
Scores of ABC, ANC and IFP supporters were present at the town hall to back their respective parties.
ANC provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo said his office received a report from the leadership of the Inkosi Bhambatha region about the removal of the “corrupt and ineffective Philani Mavundla as the mayor of Umvoti Local Municipality”.
His ongoing looting of the municipality’s coffers has been scuppered by his removal, Mtolo said.
“We have mounting evidence that proves that in one week he used the municipality as a vehicle for self-enrichment, while in another week he turned the municipality into a cash cow for his ward-based political party. Where have you heard of a councillor who hops from one municipality to another?
“He will always be remembered for his ability to chase tenders in municipalities and for his narrow, selfish interests. His arrogance and divisive demeanour remain the hallmarks of his short stint as mayor,” said Mtolo.
He also congratulated Ngubane on her appointment as the speaker.
“We are comforted by her assurance that she will work well with other councilors from other political parties. As the ANC, we support all councilors who understand that they were elected not for purposes of self-enrichment and personal gain but to serve their communities.
“They must hold regular meetings to hear the views and needs of the community and report back on the tasks given by the community,” said Mtolo.
He also lauded the MEC for Cogta for acting firmly and in the interest of the people of Umvoti Local Municipality.