In a tit-for-tat move, the ANC and Abantu Batho Congress (ABC) councillors in the Umvoti local municipality anchored in Greytown in KwaZulu-Natal have ganged up to oust the IFP mayor and deputy mayor, thus ending the ANC-IFP coalition there.
The mooted shake-up that will likely succeed will spare the Speaker, Ntombi Ngubane, who is from the ANC, while further kicking out councillor Vincent Zondi as the chairperson of the municipal public accounts committee (MPAC).
IFP engineered removal of ANC mayor
The motion is believed to be part of a broader retaliation by the ANC after the IFP (Inkatha Freedom Party) last Friday engineered the removal of Siphile Mdaka as the ANC mayor of the Umkhanyakude district municipality.
Mdaka’s embarrassing removal was undertaken despite that both parties have a binding pact in the government of provincial unity (GPU) led by premier Thami Ntuli (from the IFP).
That prompted a protest from the ANC and calls from provincial youth league bodies of the former governing party that they must pull out of the GPU, citing deceptive conduct by the IFP and the DA.
The motion to remove Gabriel Malembe and Mbongiseni Dlamini was filed by councillor Musawenkosi Phungula and supported by Councillor Mhlabunzima Bhengu, both from the ABC.
Motivating further why Malembe should be removed from office, councillor Mfundo Masondo from the ABC said he has failed to carry out his duties and protect public funds
In his motivation for the motion to remove from office, Phungula advanced almost similar reasons as Masondo by saying Dlamini has failed to perform his duties as stipulated in municipal guidelines.
“He (Dlamini) has failed dismally in safeguarding the public funds for the residents of Umvoti, as this was demonstrated during the special council meeting that was held on the 28th of August 2025. The deputy has failed to execute his duties in delivering the services and to safeguard the funds of the people of the Umvoti local municipality.
According to a confidential agenda seen by the Sunday World, Ngubane, the speaker, has set 13 October 2025 as the date to debate and vote on the motion.
The speaker had not commented on the motion at the time this report was compiled.
