By Lungani Zungu
Philani Mavundla has been voted out as deputy mayor of eThekwini Municipality.
This is despite Monday’s Durban High Court’s interdict barring the tabling of the motion against him.
The fate of Mavundla, the president of Abantu Batho Congress (ABC) was sealed after 185 councillors voted in favour of his removal and 59 against.
He has vowed to fight what he called his illegal removal.
“This is not going to end now. I am going to fight this because this is all illegal,” he said after the council meeting.”
Mavundla claimed one of the reasons he was booted from the party was because he was falsely accused of joining ActionSA.
Mavundla saved the ANC from being booted out as the governing party in the metro after the party failed to garner an outright majority in last November’s local polls.
His party, ABC, went into a coalition with the ANC and convinced other smaller parties to do the same. They handed the ANC 12 seats, assuring the struggling party of governing the metro with a budget of R55 billion.
The ANC added these seats to its 96 seats, the party got 42% in the polls, down from the 56% in 2016.
For this, Mavundla was rewarded with the deputy mayor position and appointed as the city’s human settlements and infrastructure cluster.
After the council meeting he argued that the agreement he has with the ANC in eThekwini will expire at the next local government election in 2026.
“This will not end now. It will end in 2026. That is my agreement with the ANC. This is just the beginning.”
The booted deputy mayor has known since last week that knives had been drawn when the eThekwini council that could have dealt with his removal collapsed. The meeting was postponed to Tuesday.
Mavundla’s change of political fortunes stems from his long-standing fallout with Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda who is also facing growing calls to step down over the messy state of the Durban beaches during the holiday season, a major draw card for tourists to the coastal city.
Council Speaker Thabani Nyawose is adamant that everything was above board.
Pictured above: Philabi Mavundla
Image source: Philani Mavundla Facebook
