Mashaba’s IFP MMC sacking puts pressure on coalition

The sacking of IFP councillor and former MMC for housing Mzobanzi Ntuli has put a wedge between coalition partners Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the Democratic Alliance (DA).

Ntuli was shown the door by Johannesburg City Mayor Herman Mashaba for poor performance. Ntuli is the fourth member of the mayoral committee to be sacked by the City’s mayor since the DA coalition administration.

Mashaba’s desk issued a statement about the axing on Monday, saying councillor Meshack van Wyk, from the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), would take his place as MMC for housing in the City.

Ntuli has served as MMC for housing since September 2016. He, according to the City, inherited a housing department that was performing poorly with a legacy of corruption.

The City said Ntuli, despite his best efforts, did not improve the department’s performance.

The axing of councillor Ntuli did not go down well with the IFP, who said they were not surprised by the mayor’s decision.

IFP caucus leader Bonginkosi Dhlamini said the party agreed Mashaba inherited a dysfunctional department of housing, but they believed Ntuli’s performance was compromised by Mashaba’s insistence on employing an “incompetent” executive director, Moses Mtileni.

The IFP said the decision to axe Ntuli by Mashaba was a clear indication that he had violated the virtues of their coalition government.

“If Mashaba found MMC Ntuli incompetent, it would have made political sense for the mayor to communicate this to the IFP, its coalition partner, and ask to be given a more competent candidate,” said Dhlamini.

He said the IFP listened to Mashaba’s previous reasoning and believed him to be genuine, but had since realised Mashaba was not on a mission to clean up the City.

“If he was, he would have not allowed a disgruntled CEO of Joshco, who lost the confidence of his board and fraudulently bought a building without the approval of the board, to continue serving as CEO on the insistence of Mashaba, who was well aware of the CEO’s corrupt shenanigans,” according to Dhlamini.

The City said they were aware that the IFP are not in support of their decision. “We will not allow considerations around coalition to impede the performance of the City in providing quality housing opportunities to our residents.”