Piet Retief - The mayor of Mkhondo local municipality in Mpumalanga is digging in his heels, saying he is not about to vacate the lucrative political position any time soon.
This is despite an open move by the ANC to oust him as early as January.
Mthokozisi Simelane was voted into office as an independent candidate in November last year after the local government elections.
Due to ANC factions in the Mkhondo region, Simelane found himself supported by the dominant ANC faction.
It shunned Ngelosi Ndlovu who was set to easily notch the position since the ANC had won 22 of the 38 seats of the municipality nestled along the South Africa-Eswatini borderline.
After months of defiance, in October the ANC fired eight of the councillors, thus forcing by-elections.
Last week the governing party made a clean sweep when it claimed five of them and defeated its former members who went on to contest as independent candidates.
Shortly after the by-elections, Xolani Shozi, the spokesperson of the ANC in the Gert Sibande region, said it continued to back Ndlovu and that he should be mayor.
“As you would know the organisation has long concluded its due processes of selecting the mayor candidature as at November 2021.
“Cde Ngelosi ought to have been elected in the inaugural council last year already. At this moment, we are still rallying behind the name of Comrade Ngelosi,” he said.
Shozi added that soon after its new councillors are sworn in, it would table a motion of (no) confidence and kick Simelane out.
“We will await the inauguration of the newly elected councillors, thereafter a motion of no confidence in the current troika will be tabled.
“Outcomes of which will be the reconfiguration of that council, so as to elect comrade Ngelosi as the mayor,” Shozi said.
Simelane told IOL that Shozi was dreaming, he was not going as the mayor and resigning before he was kicked out through a vote of no confidence was not on his mind.
“No I’m not going to resign, I was voted by the ANC including the remaining councillors of the ANC, and I won’t run (away).
“I’m not (aware) of the clear majority because as far as I know, we have a case against the 11 (ANC) councillors that never attend any council meeting this year.
“According to the laws they have ceased to be councillors, but we shall wait for the outcome on the first week of January,” Khumalo said in response to Shozi.
sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za
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