By Celani Sikhakhane
The mayor who was fired from the Amajuba District Municipality in Newcastle in the northwest of KwaZulu-Natal has been accused of bullying senior managers into giving her R2 million to build her family home.
Vuselwa Bam took over the mayoral reins of the IFP-ruled municipality after the local elections in November last year.
Several senior managers who spoke to Scrolla.Africa on condition of anonymity revealed that Bam used her position to bully senior staff who have the power to sign the municipality’s finances.
One of the managers who only spent a few months at the municipality told Scrolla.Africa that he had to resign and stay almost six months at home because of the bullying he was facing from Bam.
“I joined Amajuba in 2021 and councillor Bam started demanding that I find ways of getting R2 million from the water supply development budget. She said she wanted to build herself a house.
“I told her that it is not that easy because the auditor general and the Hawks will go after me demanding answers about that money she was looking for. She didn’t want to hear any of it,” he said.
Scrolla.Africa understands that senior officials who are on suspension because of Bam are from the Infrastructure and Engineering unit, Supply Chain Management and Planning Unit .
Another senior manager who is now working for another municipality but who didn’t want to be named said that Bam’s two sons were also controlling the officials through their mother.
He claimed that they put a lot of pressure on him and demanded specific tenders to be given to them.
Bam and her sons could not be reached for comments.
Her cell phone was off and she did not respond to the detailed text that was sent to her.
Amajuba District Municipality spokesperson Sbonelo Cebekhulu said that they received queries from Scrolla.Africa but they could not respond because they were busy with Mayoral Games preparations.
IFP spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said that Bam was recalled by the party after a series of discussions.
“The decision was communicated with Bam when she met with the National Executive Committee on Monday the 28th of November last week,” said Hlengwa.
Picture above: Fired mayor of Amajuba District, Vuselwa Bam
Image source: Amajuba district Facebook
