A dramatic showdown inside the Nkomazi local municipality council chamber in Mpumalanga ended without consequence after four ANC councillors withdrew their common assault charges against a member of the EFF.
The confrontation unfolded on February 5 at KaMdladla Community Hall near Tonga, where tempers flared during a heated council sitting over the appointment of a new municipal manager, a process the EFF has publicly described as dodgy and irregular.
Four ANC councillors accused EFF councillor Mafia Fane of assaulting them after he allegedly attempted to grab a microphone forcefully to air his objections.
Councillors and a security guard dragged Fane out of the chamber in the ensuing chaos, and they later opened common assault cases against him.
Fane responded by laying countercharges.
Cases have been withdrawn
On Wednesday, provincial police confirmed that the matter was formally registered but subsequently collapsed.
“Police have confirmed that an incident occurred during a council meeting at Kamdladla Community Hall, where four ANC members opened cases of common assault against an EFF member.
“The EFF member also opened a case of common assault against the four ANC members,” said provincial police spokesperson Lt-Col Jabu Ndubane, adding that no arrests were made, and all cases were later withdrawn.
At the heart of the confrontation is the appointment of a municipal manager in the embattled municipality.
Former municipal manager Xolani Mabila resigned in May 2025, after which the department of cooperative governance, human settlements and traditional affairs seconded Oscar Nkosi as the acting municipal manager from June 1 until September 30.
The permanent post was advertised in October, and a selection committee was appointed in November to interview candidates and recommend a suitable appointee.
In a Facebook video posted after the incident, Fane challenged the legality of the selection committee, arguing that its composition rendered the entire appointment process unlawful under municipal regulations.
“The regulation states that the selection committee must have between three and five people.
“The executive mayor [Phindile Magagula] came to report back, only for us to find that the selection committee had seven people, which is unacceptable,” he said.
Fane further argued that the committee failed to comply with gender parity requirements.
“The committee had two females against five men, which is against what the legislation states,” he said.
He said the controversy intensified when the executive mayor presented a report to the council that, in his view, did not meet legislative standards.
“The challenge occurred after the executive mayor brought her report to the council. We then questioned the report because it did not meet the legislative requirements. This is a report that was supposed to be forwarded to the department.”
Fane said the report also omitted critical information about applicants for the post.
“We learned that only five candidates met the requirements and were called for interviews, but not all five are listed in the report. The report only lists three candidates who were recommended by the selection committee,” he said.
Politically driven appointments
According to Fane, his attempt to seek clarity triggered the disorder.
“We spoke before the council, stating that we need the list of all those people so that we, as a council, can satisfy ourselves that the process is above board. You can’t just say to us that the rest did not qualify. Show us that they did not qualify.
“This was the only item on the agenda. We started at 10am, and 30 minutes later, the ANC councillors were complaining that we were wasting time. But we had to hold the chairperson of the selection committee accountable.”
Fane linked his resistance to what he described as a pattern of politically driven appointments that have contributed to Nkomazi’s deepening financial crisis.
“The managers were blamed for being corrupt and mismanaging funds when the reality is that they were political deployees. Politicians want a municipal manager who agrees to their criminality.
“They won’t agree. They’d even kill for such. No wonder they were busy pushing us the way they did because they want their person,” he said.
He insisted that the EFF’s objection is not aimed at Nkosi personally.
“Nkosi worked, and we saw his work, but our municipality is still in financial distress. We owe Eskom millions, and our service providers do not receive payment on time. However, we are not against this candidate. It is the process we are opposing.”
