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- Nongoma Municipality's ANC Speaker Babongile Sithole has opened a case of intimidation and harassment against 16 IFP councillors.
- This was after the councillors stormed into her office while she was in a virtual council meeting and disrupted it.
- However, the IFP says they just wanted to reason with Sithole about using the council chambers for the meeting instead of Zoom, because the network is bad in Nongoma.
In the ever-rising political tensions in the Nongoma Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, 16 IFP councillors stormed into the office of ANC Speaker Babongile Sithole, briefly confiscated her laptop and allegedly "manhandled" her, as they called for an in-person meeting.
This is what Sithole and witnesses told Nongoma police after the incident at her office during a virtual council meeting on Tuesday.
However, IFP councillor Bheki Zulu disputed her claim, saying they only wanted to reason with her about using the council chambers for the meeting instead of Zoom, because of the poor network connection, and what they described as her biased conduct in council.
Zulu told News24 that Sithole did not recognise IFP councillors and even skipped their hands in virtual meetings.
He said they were aware of the case and were waiting for police to question them. He claimed that SAPS was in bed with the council leaders and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) in what he described as a ploy to stifle the IFP.
READ | IFP denies involvement in KZN councillor's cold-blooded killing
The council is led by a coalition of the National Freedom Party (NFP) and ANC councillors, who decided to hold meetings virtually, amid a rise in political violence in the region.
In February, the NFP, ANC and EFF reached a dramatic agreement to dislodge the IFP and install NFP councillor Mshangane Ndabandaba as mayor, and ANC's Sithole as speaker.
Under the deal, the EFF's Sabelo Nkosi occupies the deputy mayor position.
The bickering between the IFP and the coalition follows a series of political shootings in Nongoma.
Tuesday's disruption comes against the backdrop of the government's recently gazetted regulations that allow councils to charge councillors who disrupt meetings.
The IFP councillors are at risk of being the first representatives to be charged under the new regulations as Sithole told News24 she would enforce the new rules.
Sithole said:
She said Zulu led the councillors.
"They took my laptop but returned it later. They intimidated and harassed me. One of them manhandled me by my thumb," Sithole said.
She said when the 16 councillors walked into her office she had been presiding over a council meeting where they were confirming the minutes from a previous sitting.
Zulu downplayed Sithole's accusations.
He said:
He said the ANC and IFP used Zoom to conduct meetings as a cover to prevent the IFP from holding them accountable.
"We went to her office, and we wanted to talk to her about her conduct. We want a robust engagement. We know she's opened a case. They [new Nongoma leadership] work with cops and Cogta."
Quizzed about the laptop, Zulu said: "We weren't taking the laptop. She was continuing with council [but] they didn't have the [required] 50 plus one quorum."
He said that during his time as speaker, he allowed the ANC and the NFP to "say whatever they wanted".
READ | 17 councillors assassinated in KZN over past 10 months – Salga
Zulu charged that the NFP- and ANC-led council wasn't affording them the same opportunity.
ANC Mzala Nxumalo regional secretary said the IFP's top leadership's silence was a loud indicator of their position on gender-based violence and political killings.
He called upon SAPS to swiftly arrest the IFP councillors "who forcefully gained entry into [Sithole's] office with the intention to harm her".
"The attack on the speaker takes place as we wrap up Women’s Month... and in the backdrop of the barbaric murder of NFP councillor, Mama Ntombenhle Mchunu, [and] the attempted murder of NFP councillor, Mphathiseni Manqele."
He also mentioned the attack on his home.
