The dramatic election that catapulted the National Freedom Party’s (NFP) Zandile Myeni to the position of deputy mayor of the eThekwini metro, makes KwaZulu-Natal one of the key provinces under the spotlight ahead of the 2024 elections general elections in about 15 months’ time.
In a dramatic fashion, Myeni received the nod to occupy one of the crucial positions in Durban’s City hall, the headquarters of the only metro in the province.
Myeni received 126 votes while smaller parties who backed the candidature of the IFP caucus leader, Mdu Nkosi, garnered 81 votes. The NFP has a single seat in the council of 208 seats.
Myeni will now be the head of a critical human settlements and infrastructure committee, which controls the metro’s massive budget allocation.
The committee was subject of a bitter showdown between the ANC and then deputy mayor Philani Mavundla who was sacked through a vote of no confidence tabled by the ruling party. Mavundla is the leader of the Abantu Botho Congress (ABC), one of the kingmakers who ensured the ANC snatched the metro after it failed to record an outright majority during the 2021 municipal elections.
He was booted out following frosty relations with mayor Mxolisi Kaunda, who himself on Friday survived a vote of no confidence in a motion raised by Imtiaz Syed of Active Citizens.
eThekwini is the economic hub of KZN. Its budget is pitched at R55.4-billion.
Myeni has committed himself to help restore stability in eThekwini, and said the time for jostling and bickering was over.
“We must all join hands to deliver effective services to the people of eThekwini. I’m confident that the coalition will be stable because we have similar arrangements with the ANC in other municipalities and these are working perfectly fine. It’s not about egos, it’s about the people,” Myeni told Sunday World shortly after her election.
The NFP has a standing agreement to work with the ANC, which dates back to its formation in 2011 by its founder, the late Zanele kaMagwaza Msibi.
Recently in the city of Johannesburg councillor Thapelo Amad of AL Jama-ah was elected Johannesburg metro executive mayor, ousting the DA’s Dr Mpho Phalatse. His party has three seats in a council of 270 seats.
DA deputy caucus leader in eThekwini Thabani Mthethwa said things had become untenable,citing the auditor-general’s report that flagged dismal performance as the metro posted R1.5-billion in irregular expenditure.
“The disastrous ANC-EFF coalition supported by other smaller parties could mark the end of eThekwini. The country has witnessed that the ANC has allowed catastrophic infrastructure failures, which led to the contamination of our seas, rivers and streets,” Mthethwa said.
However, ActionSA leader in the province Zwakele Mncwango said: “We have been defeated because of the complicity of smaller parties. We have now handed over the entire municipality to the ANC.”
It was widely expected that former uMhlathuze (Richards Bay-eMpangeni) deputy mayor Nkululeko Ngubane will be the preferred candidate for the ANC-led block.
Ngubane and the other seven deputy mayors in the province have been instructed by the EFF’s top brass to vacate their positions after a fallout between the IFP and the red berets.
The political developments make KwaZulu-Natal one of the provinces that will be closely watched. Few surprises ahead of the provincial and national elections in 2024 appear to occupy the minds of political analysts as they seek to analyse what the future holds for the province.
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