Durban - The shock decision by Abantu Batho Congress president and eThekwini deputy mayor Philani “PG” Mavundla not to back a city manager candidate for the eThekwini municipality that was preferred by the governing party, has added strain to the ANC-led coalition.
Already there are jitters among some in the ruling party that a divorce is on the cards and the metro will be lost to the opposition coalition of the IFP and the DA.
On Monday the nine-member decision-taking executive committee (exco) privately met to discuss the filling of the vacant city manager position which was left vacant by corruption-accused Sipho Nzuza last year.
The ANC in the municipality wanted to have Max Mbili, the current municipal manager of Ray Nkonyeni (Port Shepstone) local municipality, and a seasoned local government expert, who among other qualifications holds an MBA, appointed as the next city manager for a term of five years.
Emboldened by a recommendation from a panel that was interviewing the candidates and which had recommended that the exco must green light the appointment of Mbili, Mavundla – who, as part of the coalition deal, was given the position of deputy mayor and chairperson of the human settlements committee – put his foot down, leaving the ANC red-faced.
With the ANC having four exco seats after it was forced to surrender its fifth seat to Mavundla in exchange for him to back it so that it took over the metro, after failing to gain an outright majority in November last year, it was left exposed during the voting process.
According to a now widely available report – which was signed by mayor Mxolisi Kaunda in his capacity as the chairperson of the exco – when no consensus could be reached on Mbili’s issue, the matter was put to the vote. The DA with its three votes roped in the IFP with its single vote and later Mavundla, to make it five against four, thus defeating the ANC.
Ahead of the crucial exco meeting, insiders within Durban City Hall, the administrative centre of the municipality, claimed that Mavundla’s relationship with the ANC was already on the rocks as the party feels that he is using his position to regularly interact with the community, thus overshadowing Kaunda.
“A cabal of ANC councillors met shortly after he was elected and hatched a plan to isolate him and render him powerless while serving as a deputy mayor. In one sitting which was aimed to contain Mavundla, Kaunda led a municipal delegation to present on housing matters to the KwaZulu-Natal government and sidelined the deputy who was supposed to present as the head of the human settlements committee dealing with housing.
“Mavundla never liked that and he saw it as an insult,” claimed one city hall insider. Kaunda’s spokesperson, Mluleki Mntungwa, denied that Mavundla was sidelined during that presentation.
“The mayor and deputy mayor attended the meeting. However, I cannot comment on matters related to the cabinet. Please contact the provincial head of communication, Mr Lennox Mabaso,” Mtungwa said, adding that Kaunda will on Wednesday comprehensively address the issue of the city manager when he hosts the media at the city hall.
Another city hall insider claimed that Mavundla’s relationship with the ANC was strained by the fact that he was always seen interacting with the people more than Kaunda.
“Mavundla is always out dealing with issues of housing, illegal street trading and mingling with vendors in townships like KwaMashu. That has made some ANC councillors and their aligned staff uncomfortable and they want ways to contain him,” said another insider.
Mavundla did not comment when asked by the Daily News about the allegations that his relationship with Kaunda and the ANC is strained.
The spokesperson of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal, Nhlakanipho Ntombela said they have arranged to meet with Mavundla and iron out their differences over the city manager position.
He added that Mavundla has alerted the ANC at the provincial level that he was having difficulties with some members of the governing party in the municipality, hence their intervention.
“We will be meeting Mavundla to discuss the matter… you see, our challenge in eThekwini is that some of our comrades are failing to understand that we are in a coalition and how we should work with the other parties. That is the matter that we need to work on,” Ntombela said.
He denied that the ANC took a resolution to isolate Mavundla from the moment he was given the two positions as part of the coalition deal.
“If there was such a decision to isolate him, why are we then still going to meet with him to discuss issues?” Ntombela asked.
Daily News