ANC still faces the gargantuan task of removing IFP coalition from municipal office

Despite the ANC-led coalition having a majority in at least three KwaZulu-Natal hung municipalities currently controlled by an IFP coalition, dislodging the IFP from power is proving to be a mammoth task.

After the 2021 municipal elections, the IFP, with assistance from parties such as the EFF and ABC, was able to keep the ANC out of power in several hung municipalities.

However, with the EFF and ABC having now switched their allegiance to the ANC, the IFP-led coalition no longer has a majority in municipalities such as Nongoma, Maphumulo, uMvoti in Greytown and Alfred Duma in Ladysmith.

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But despite the balance of power having shifted in favour of the ANC-led coalition at the four municipalities, the IFP, which on numerous occasions has been able to use the courts to block attempts to unseat its mayors, have for months now been clinging onto power in the three municipalities.

ABC’s frustraions
ABC president Philani Mavundla on Thursday told The Witness that his party was getting frustrated with the court interdicts preventing opposition parties from removing the IFP mayors from office.

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They [the courts] seem to want to take away the functions of the councils and that of the MEC [Cogta KZN MEC Bongi Sithole Moloi].
The ANC-led coalition has been calling for special council sittings where it would vote out IFP office bearers but IFP leaders and managers are said to be blocking the meetings.

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IFP accused of blocking meetings
Accusations that the IFP was blocking the meetings in the hung municipalities of Nongoma, Maphumulo and Alfred Duma in Ladysmith, saw Sithole-Moloi invoking her powers as MEC to call the special meetings.

However, in all instances where Sithole-Moloi intervened, the IFP was able to interdict her.

In the latest court battle between the IFP and Sithole-Moloi, the Pietermaritzburg high court yesterday set aside the MEC’s decision to convene an Alfred Duma Municipality special meeting which the ANC-led coalition intended to use to eject IFP office bearers.

The court gave the MEC until the end of May to demonstrate why the interdict against her should not be made permanent.

The IFP has lodged its papers late but the court granted it condonation, a decision which the Cogta Department felt was unfair.

It’s… disturbing that the department was not given sufficient time to prepare for the court proceedings yesterday, as the papers were only received a few hours before. Of particular concern to the department is the date set by the court for the hearing of the case, which practically leaves the council in limbo for a good month. This means a prolonged period of disruption in decision-making and subsequently service delivery to the people of this municipality.
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It was within the rights of Moloi-Sithole, the department said, to intervene in municipalities if processes were not being followed.

The Municipal Structures Act and the standing rules of council give the MEC the authority to call for a special council meeting when the municipality’s internal processes have failed. The department still maintains that it is in the best interest of the municipality and its citizens for the council meeting to be convened.
It indicated that it would appeal Thursday’s court judgment.

While the department respects the rule of law, it also intends to use the legal instruments available to it to challenge this judgment.
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