KwaDukuza held hostage by warring ANC factions

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in KZN has alleged that warring factions within the African National Congress (ANC) have “held hostage” the town of KwaDukuza.

The DA’s iLembe constituency head Dean Macpherson said the party was appalled at the current power battle playing itself out in the KwaDukuza Municipality which had resulted in the municipality “shutting down” due to the municipality’s Executive Committee (EXCO) and full council meetings being called off for the month of June.

The African News Agency (ANA) reported on Tuesday that the municipality had reopened following protests.

This was announced by the municipality that all its offices were now open and fully operational following protests in the area.

READ MORE: KwaDukuza municipality re-opens following protests

Macpherson accused the alleged “warring factions” within the ANC of leading to the municipality’s EXCO failing to convene its sitting, “and worse, an important meeting to discuss Capital projects in the electrical department has been cancelled”.

Macpherson said the municipality had returned R18 million to National Treasury in the previous financial year for its failure to spend the money to resolve outstanding electrical connections to poor communities as well as fix the 600 broken street lights.

Macpherson said it was alleged that the protest came from the ANC’s alleged intention to reappoint the ANC Youth League’s former secretary, Musa Zondi, who was found guilty by the court for murder and kidnapping, back to his position as secretary. Zondi has subsequently appealed his conviction and is currently out on bail.

“It is a sad state of affairs that the municipality has come to a standstill due to internal factions of the ANC led by a convicted murderer.

“Further to this cancellation of EXCO and council meetings, we have been informed that future council meetings are postponed indefinitely leading to a state of paralysis in the municipality.”

However, KwaDukuza Municipality’s communications and knowledge management officer Sphelelo Ngobese told the Citizen that Macpherson’s claim was shocking because council proceedings were continuing as normal with EXCO and council meetings scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday respectively.

Ngobese said this was an indication that the municipality was “back to normal”.

He added that Macpherson’s claims were misleading to the public and were a “complete fallacy”.

Meanwhile, the North Coast Courier reported at the time the protest broke out that the deputy secretary of the ANC in the region, Matozi Khuzwayo Dlamini, said the provincial executive committee had not discussed Zondi’s reappointment.

Attempts to get a comment from regional ANC spokesperson Thandeka Ngidi were unsuccessful as her phone went unanswered.

(Compiled by Makhosandile Zulu)

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.