Mpumalanga’s capital city council has been interdicted from appointing a new chief financial officer (CFO) just weeks before the November 4 local government elections, as a bitter legal battle involving former lovers and political rivals continues to haunt the municipality.
Mbombela High Court Acting Judge Kgama Shai interdicted the municipality on September 23, hours before councillors were scheduled to meet virtually at 3pm to consider appointing a permanent CFO.
The court order has thrown another obstacle into the municipality’s efforts to fill one of its most powerful administrative positions, while an appeal against an earlier judgment declaring the dismissal of former CFO Delight Ntombifuthi Sibanyoni unlawful remains unresolved.
Sibanyoni, appointed in February 2023 on a five-year contract ending in January 2028, approached the court after discovering that the municipality intended to fill the position despite ongoing litigation.
In her founding affidavit, Sibanyoni warned that proceeding with the appointment could undermine the pending appeal and leave the municipality facing competing claims to the same position.
“If the appointment proceeds on 23 September 2026, the outcome of the pending appeal, whichever way it is ultimately decided, will, for practical purposes, be rendered academic in respect of my reinstatement,” she stated.
She also questioned the urgency of the special council meeting, arguing that the municipality had failed to comply with its own standing orders requiring adequate notice.
The September 23 order prevented the mayor, municipal manager, council and speaker from proceeding with the CFO appointment. It also prohibited the municipality from appointing another CFO pending the final determination of the appeal, unless authorised by the court.
Msibi’s past relationship enters legal battle
The dispute has a political and personal history involving former Mpumalanga cooperative governance MEC Mandla Msibi, who is now seeking to become Mbombela mayor under the banner of the Service Delivery Party after leaving the ANC.
In an earlier judgment delivered on October 2 last year, Acting Judge Maboku Mangena recorded Sibanyoni’s allegation that she and Msibi had been romantically involved between 2016 and 2018.
Sibanyoni alleged that Msibi’s subsequent intervention in her appointment was motivated by personal resentment arising from their former relationship.
The allegations formed part of a dispute that began after Msibi, then the provincial MEC responsible for local government, questioned Sibanyoni’s appointment following claims that she had misrepresented information in her curriculum vitae.
READ MORE: Ex-lover links Msibi to her dismissal
Msibi directed the municipality to rescind her appointment, but the council initially resisted, with the speaker maintaining that the MEC had exceeded the period within which he could challenge the appointment.
Msibi subsequently approached the High Court seeking to have her appointment declared invalid.
The earlier proceedings were later withdrawn, but the controversy resurfaced under Msibi’s successor, Speed Mashilo.
On April 30 last year, the municipal council resolved to terminate Sibanyoni’s appointment, prompting her successful court challenge.
Mangena found that the municipality had unlawfully acted on instructions from provincial authorities rather than exercising its own statutory powers.
“The council relied on a non-existent law to terminate the appointment of its employee,” the judge ruled.
He was particularly critical of the conduct of the provincial authorities and municipal leadership.
“The removal of the CFO was, based on the facts before me, actuated by malice, sinister motives and desire to perpetuate illegality. It was not for a lawful purpose,” Mangena found.
The judgment declared the council’s resolution unlawful and set it aside.
READ MORE: Court finds against Mbombela over suspension of CFO
Legal battle continues despite political changes
Although Msibi has since left the ANC and entered the mayoral race under a rival political outfit, the legal resistance to Sibanyoni’s return has continued under the ANC-led municipality.
The municipality has now mounted a challenge against Mangena’s judgment alone in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein. This after the provincial department Msibi once led quietly withdrew from the case.
The continuation of the litigation does not, however, establish that the present municipal leadership shares Msibi’s alleged initial sentiments in the matter.
In her latest affidavit, Sibanyoni also questioned the municipality’s continued reliance on acting CFO Sabelo Dube.
She argued that his acting arrangement had exceeded the period permitted by legislation, which ordinarily limits such appointments to three months, subject to a possible extension under specified circumstances.
She further contended that appointing a permanent CFO shortly before the elections conflicted with government transition guidelines discouraging outgoing councils from making senior appointments that could bind their successors.
The September order did not finally determine the legality of Dube’s acting appointment or whether the proposed recruitment breached those guidelines.
The dispute has acquired wider significance after Parliament’s portfolio committee on cooperative governance and traditional affairs questioned senior appointments and long-term commitments by outgoing municipal councils this week.
During Tuesday’s briefing, MPs heard that the South African Local Government Association and Cogta had developed transition guidelines intended to prevent outgoing administrations from unnecessarily restricting the decisions of incoming councils.
The committee acknowledged that municipalities must continue essential operations, but raised concerns about lengthy contracts and strategic appointments during the transition.
For Mbombela, the immediate consequence is that its outgoing council cannot appoint a new permanent CFO while the appeal remains unresolved, unless authorised by a court.
For Sibanyoni, the battle over her job continues. And for the municipality, a dispute that began under one political administration has survived changes in provincial leadership and reached the final weeks before voters choose their next council.
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- Mbombela High Court interdicted Mpumalanga’s Mbombela municipality from appointing a new chief financial officer (CFO) on September 23, hours before a scheduled council meeting.
- Former CFO Delight Ntombifuthi Sibanyoni successfully challenged her dismissal, with a court ruling last year declaring it unlawful and motivated by malice and illegality.
- The legal dispute involves former Mpumalanga cooperative governance MEC Mandla Msibi, who questioned Sibanyoni's appointment and allegedly influenced her dismissal due to a past personal relationship.
- The municipality is appealing the judgment in the Supreme Court of Appeal, while the provincial department formerly led by Msibi has withdrawn from the case.
- The interdict prevents the municipality from appointing a permanent CFO before the November 4 local elections, and the acting CFO's appointment is also under legal scrutiny.
