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- Eight IFP councillors have been removed by an ANC-ABC coalition in the uMvoti Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal.
- The councillors had missed four consecutive council meetings.
- The IFP says the ANC and the ABC are trying to railroad them out of council.
The ANC and Abantu Batho Congress (ABC) coalition in the uMvoti Local Municipality fired eight IFP councillors in dramatic developments on Wednesday - a move the IFP feels is a ploy to force by-elections.
Their removal deals a double blow to the IFP in two municipalities.
Veteran IFP uMzinyathi District Municipality Mayor Petrus Ngubane was one of the nine councillors axed from the uMvoti Local Municipality by the ANC-ABC coalition on Wednesday.
Effectively, if it holds, the decision will mean Ngubane is no longer a mayor in uMzinyathi on the basis that he's no longer a councillor.
The proportional representation system allows for a councillor to hold a position in their local municipality, and occupy the mayor's office in the district municipality.
Ngubane couldn't be reached, but he previously told News24 he would take the matter to court.
A total of nine councillors were fired - eight IFP councillors and one, Mbuyiseni Majozi, a member of the ABC.
The councillors missed four consecutive council meetings in June, ABC Speaker Mfundo Masondo charged in letters he wrote to them.
The councillors' removal comes against the backdrop of the IFP's ousting in uMvoti by the ANC-ABC coalition.
On June 21, the two parties worked out a deal to dethrone the IFP triumvirate of Gabriel Malembe as mayor, Noluthando Dlamini as the Speaker and Bhojasi Dlamini as the chief whip.
They were replaced by ABC president Philani Mavundla as mayor, ABC member Mfundo Masondo as Speaker, and ANC member Ntombi Ngubane as deputy mayor.
Dlamini told News24 that they had sent an apology for the absences in the special council meeting on 21 June. However, one of their own councillors failed to deliver the letter.
He said as they were seeking an explanation from their councillor about the failure to submit the apology, the ANC and ABC stormed the council chamber, celebrating a court victory that effectively removed the IFP's leadership from uMvoti.
The IFP had applied to the Pietermaritzburg High Court to interdict the ANC and ABC from removing them at the special council meeting.
Dlamini said:
Explaining their absence at another meeting, he said Masondo had called two meetings in one day on 29 June and the IFP had not been properly informed.
"We're taking this matter to the MEC [Cogta's Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi]," Dlamini said.
"If that doesn't work, we're going straight to court."
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Masondo said he was confident the incumbent uMvoti leadership had followed due processes.
He wrote to the IFP leaders last week, warning them that they had abdicated their duties by being absent or walking out without apologies in four consecutive meetings.
In a letter to Ngubane and others last week, Masondo notified them of the council leadership's plan to take action against them and gave the councillors a deadline to respond.
Speaking to News24, Masondo said the councillors' responses "were underwhelming" and the affidavits contained "irregularities".
