DURBAN - The Alfred Duma council is expected to finally sit and elect new leadership today after a court ruled in favour of the ANC on Tuesday.
On Wednesday the municipal manager, Sixolisile Ngiba, issued letters of invitation to the councillors for a council inauguration to take place in Settlers Park in Ladysmith.
Judge Piet Koen ruled that the voting process for all positions should be done through secret ballot, dismissing IFP’s request to have it done openly.
The judge also dismissed the election of the speaker Zama Sibisi. She was chosen openly by IFP councillors during the first sitting, which degenerated into a fist-fight between local IFP leader and the National Peoples’ Assembly councillor Nkosinathi Mthethwa.
Municipality spokesperson Siyabonga Maphalala confirmed the sitting, saying the municipality was ready for it.
ANC regional leader Bheki Ntuli, whose party was an applicant in the matter, welcomed the court decision and said his party was ready to go and fight for positions in the council.
He said although the IFP had a clear majority, anything was possible in politics since voting would be done through a secret ballot. He added that the court judgment was a victory for the ANC.
IFP chairperson in KwaZulu-Natal, Thami Ntuli, also welcomed the ruling, saying his party respected the rule of law. He said the decision to have an open vote was taken by the party councillors for their own reasons.
The ANC and other parties objected to the way all 33 IFP councillors wanted the voting to be done, and the meeting degenerated into chaos and was cancelled. ANC lodged a case in Pietermaritzburg High Court and the matter was heard on Tuesday.
There were rumours that there were IFP councillors who were not happy with how positions were allocated. Therefore, they would vote with the opposition if a secret ballot was held. The IFP has 33 seats against the 32 of the opposition combined.
Daily News