ANC Fires KZN Mayor Facing Assault Rap

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Uphongolo mayor Hlengiwe Nhlabathi.

SANDILE MOTHA

THE ANC in KwaZulu Natal has given Uphongolo Local Municipality mayor and a deputy mayor in another municipality the boot. The party cited poor governance, loss of public trust and incompetence as one of the reasons for their dismissal.

“ANC members know that they serve at the mercy of the party. So, at any given time the organisation makes it own assessment whether its deployees in government are living up to public expectations and delivering on the party mandate. Where there are shortcomings identified, the party acts accordingly to rectify that,” explained Nhlakanipho Ntombela, ANC provincial spokesperson to Inside Metros.

He said the pair would be redeployed elsewhere within the party according to their capabilities.

Uphongolo mayor Hlengiwe Nhlabathi has been under severe criticism and subject of public scrutiny as previously reported by Inside Metros.

Nhlabathi is currently facing legal woes together with her two bodyguards for allegedly assaulting a local man to a pulp. She had apparently accused the community member of trespassing after the victim had used a footpath that passes near her homestead.

Inside Metros understands that the mayor is currently facing party internal disciplinary processes pertaining to the incident. She is also facing an assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm charge and the matter is currently on the court roll at Uphongolo magistrates’ court with a trial date set for October.  

eMadlangeni local municipality deputy mayor Ntsikelelo Ndlovu has also been booted out.  

Ndlovu appears to have been a casualty of the ongoing political infighting at the Utrecht based municipality located on the western part of the province.

In 2017, the struggling rural municipality was placed under administration following service delivery challenges and poor governance issues.

Xolani Dube, KwaZulu-Natal based political analyst and senior researcher at Xubera Research Institute and Development said the ANC was feeling pressure to act decisively on its ill behaving deployees in government.

“These are people who serve as the face of the party in public. So public perceptions matter ahead of the local government elections. So probably the move is aimed at salvaging a little of what is left of the party,” said Dube.

Nhlabathi and Ndlovu join a long list of ANC mayors who have been forced to relinquish public office in the province in less than a year.

Among them is former eThekwini municipal mayor Zandile Gumede, UMsunduzi mayor Themba Njilo and Mandeni local municipality mayor Siphesihle Zulu.

Despite facing corruption allegations of corruption and tender irregularities, Zulu was recently rewarded with a post of speaker at the Ilembe district municipality.

Among his duties will be to exercise oversight over the local municipality in which he previously served as mayor.

(COMPILED BY INSIDE METROS STAFF)

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