The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) has stepped in to restore order after opposition parties ganged up in an attempt to unseat embattled Mayor Gabriel Malembe, who is from the IFP (Inkatha Freedom Party).
The Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi’s move restored order at the volatile Umvoti (Greytown) local municipality after days of political turmoil.
Buthelezi has written to the Speaker of the council, Ntombi Ngubane, telling her that the purported meeting on Friday that is said to have elected Mfundo Masondo from the ABC (Abantu Batho Congress) as the new mayor is null and void.
Voted in as mayor due to retaliation
Masondo was “elected” with the help of ANC councillors to oust Gabriel Malembe from the IFP (Inkatha Freedom Party) in what is believed to be a retaliation for the removal of ANC’s Siphile Mdaka as the mayor of Umkhanyakude district municipality, which was carried by the IFP with the help of the National Freedom Party (NFP).
Since Friday’s sitting, which was to end the ANC-IFP coalition and replace it with an ANC-ABC coalition, two mayors have publicly claimed legitimacy.
Masondo’s lawyers said he was duly elected as the mayor on the day, as the court bid by Malembe to obtain a restraining order came after the sitting had convened; as such, it was overtaken by events.
Malembe claimed that the council did not meet the required quorum, as IFP and DA and two ANC councillors were not present.
Buthelezi, in his letter, has since sided with Malembe by saying the meeting was unlawful and its resolution cannot stand.
Clear meeting was terminated
“Having considered the documentation which has been made available, it is clear that the meeting of 13 October 2025 was cancelled. The attempt to convene council for a continuation meeting on 17 October 2025 was non-compliant with the standing rules and orders of uMvoti council.
“The meeting scheduled for 17 October 2025 did not have the required quorum and could not have commenced. Accordingly, there was no meeting, and no resolutions could have been adopted.
“Motions to remove Mayor Malembe and Deputy Mayor Dlamini were not proposed and seconded to a formal council meeting, did not serve before a quorate meeting of the council and accordingly such office bearers cannot have been removed,” reads the letter from Buthelezi to the speaker of the council, Ngubane, who is from the ANC.
The spokesperson for the department, Senzo Mzila, confirmed the letter and its contents.
“CoGTA recognises Malembe as the mayor of Umvoti. Anyone else purporting to be the mayor is misleading himself and the public,” he said.
