Durban – The ANC has managed to retain a semblance of power in the Msunduzi Local Municipality after Mzimkhulu Thebolla retained his mayoral position following the inaugural sitting of the council on Monday.
Following Thebolla in retaining his position was Speaker Eunice Majola who was re-elected into the position while Mxolisi Mkhize was elected Deputy Mayor of the council.
Msunduzi was expected to be one of the most hotly contested councils in the province, given that the council was under administration but the ANC still managed to get the majority of the votes.
At the polls the ANC garnered 48.3% of the votes which saw them receive 40 seats in the council with the DA in second with their 19.3% of the votes seeing them getting 16 seats while the EFF received 11.7% of the votes and 10 seats.
Monday’s inaugural sitting of the new council at Pietermaritzburg’s Royal Showgrounds saw Thebolla being voted in to retain leadership of the troubled municipality which has been blamed for the deteriorating state of the provincial capital.
Just a few weeks before the elections, an investigation by the Public Protector found that municipal officials within Msunduzi had been negligent in their duties, and had failed to ensure that the municipality was only billed for services that had been provided.
This was in relation to the procurement of goods and services for community meetings that had taken place between February and November 2017 in Copesville, Pietermaritzburg, with the report stating that officials had failed to ensure that the municipality paid only for goods and services that had been provided, while it also found that there had been serious discrepancies and misrepresentation of facts during the procurement process.
samkelo.mtshali@inl.co.za
Political Bureau