Six candidates in the running for KwaDukuza mayor amid leadership turmoil

Six KwaDukuza ward councillors have been interviewed for the position of mayor.

According to African National Congress regional spokesperson, Thandeka Mkhize, they are considering the following candidates: Sicelinjabulo Cele (Ward 29), Dolly Govender (Ward 19, current council speaker and former mayor), Tarzan Naicker (Ward 17), Ali Ngidi (Ward 8), Thobekihle Dube (Ward 10) and Virginia Mwandla (Ward 24).

That is assuming the party’s 29 councillors present a united front when the election of a new mayor takes place and that the party’s former coalition partners, the African Transformation Movement and African Independent Congress, both of whom have one council seat, continue to vote with them.

The ANC does not have a majority in the KwaDukuza municipality (KDM), holding 29 of the total 59 seats, and cannot win a council election alone.

When said council vote will take place remains unclear, as the current mayor, Lindile Nhaca, has not resigned from her role, despite being suspended by the ANC over two weeks ago.
The suspension barred her from attending council and caucus meetings and from holding community meetings in her capacity as an ANC member.

But she has so far stood firm against an expectation of her resignation, leading the provincial ANC to threaten a motion of no confidence (MoNC) against her, which would force a council vote on the matter.

A council meeting would need to be called within 10 days of the motion being lodged.

At the same time, the Democratic Alliance in KwaDukuza lodged a separate MoNC on Monday, targeting KDM speaker, Dolly Govender.

“Despite our ongoing efforts to engage the Honourable Speaker on the suspension of KwaDukuza mayor, Lindile Nhaca, which has been ventilated extensively in the public domain, we note the overwhelming resistance of the speaker and municipal manager to take the council into confidence,” said DA KwaDukuza caucus whip, Privi Makhan.

She said the DA had also sought clarity on the postponement of the mayoral imbizos last week, but had been equally met by silence from the speaker’s office.

“The speaker must distinguish between her activities as a politician and her functions as a speaker,” said Makhan.

In response, ActionSA in KwaDukuza said they thought the DA’s motion was premature.

“The timing of this [motion] couldn’t be worse because it comes on the heels of a current leadership vacuum at KDM with its positions of mayor and deputy mayor still in limbo, and which has negatively impacted service delivery to our residents,” said ActionSA KwaDukuza caucus leader, Nel Sewraj.

He said although he agreed that a lack of response to official correspondence was improper, he did not believe it met the level required to institute a motion.

Nevertheless, the motion will need to be voted on before the end of next week.

Both the speaker and suspended mayor Lindile Nhaca had not responded at the time of publication.

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