‘Punish them at the polls,’ says DA as Mxolisi Kaunda survives vote of no confidence

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal is in a celebratory mood after eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda survived a vote of no confidence on Wednesday.

The motion, brought by the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), failed after 109 councillors voted against it, while 98 voted in favour.

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In bringing the motion, the IFP and DA bemoaned the collapse of eThekwini, which has seen communities such as Verulam and Bester go for more than 100 days without water.

According to the DA, the Umgeni-Uthukela Water Board on Wednesday said it supplies more than enough water to eThekwini and that the city loses R144 million, or 40%, of water every month through technical losses.

The DA is also calling for the dissolution of the eThekwini council to force fresh elections and, ultimately, “result in a new leadership for the defunct city of eThekwini”.

“Most of the opposition parties supported this motion because the mess we are going through has happened under mayor Kaunda. This is why we found it important as the DA to remove him,” said DA eThekwini caucus leader Thabani Mthethwa.

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“It is very disappointing that some political parties betrayed the people of eThekwini by voting against the motion purely because of their own personal interests. We’re saying to the people of eThekwini, they must punish these parties for not voting in support of the motion.”

‘eThekwini headed for disaster’

ActionSA KZN premier candidate Zwakele Mncwango said Kaunda’s survival can only mean that KwaZulu-Natal is “headed for a disaster”.

Mncwango criticised smaller parties that either abstained or voted against the motion to remove Kaunda.

“The decision made by those who chose to retain the mayor further proves that the ANC operates within other political parties who have sworn to remove the ANC for the betterment of our nation,” said Mncwango.

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“The Auditor-General’s report painted a grim picture of the state of the municipality, where an astounding amount of R3.6 billion was written off due to irregular expenditure, robbing residents of eThekwini of job opportunities and better service delivery among other things, however, certain political parties demonstrated their support for the mayor to continue his quest to cripple the municipality, along with its residents.”