Celani Sikhakhane
Alfred Duma Local Municipality will have a third mayor in three months.
Their first mayor Bheki Sithole was picked by the IFP soon after the local government elections in November last year.
Opposition leaders took the party to court regarding the process of the council sitting that led to his election.
When the IFP lost the court case they appointed Zama Sibisi after a coalition agreement between them and the DA, EFF and ABC.
In January it was revealed that the new mayor crashed his official Mercedes Benz SUV after only 20 days in office.
Now the IFP’s plan to remove Sibisi has angered opposition parties.
The DA, ABC and the EFF who voted with the IFP to take the municipality from the ANC, are threatening to pull out of the coalition agreement if the plan to remove Sibisi goes ahead.
This may force the IFP to lose power in Alfred Duma, UThukela District and Inkosi Langalibalele Local Municipality.
ANC Regional Spokesperson Bheki Khanyile said if Sibisi is removed it means the party has appointed three mayors since November 1st.
“The IFP appointed Sithole. Then Zama Sibisi was appointed. Now they want to unseat Sibisi and replace him with Otto Kunene. This is a sign of instability and the failure of the IFP to lead,” said Khanyile.
IFP spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said the ANC were “delusional” because they can’t accept that they no longer govern the municipality, but he confirmed they will replace Sibisi with Kunene.
He said the removal of Sibisi had nothing to do with him crashing his official car.
“As a party the IFP are entitled to make any changes without any ANC instruction. Kunene was supposed to be deployed to Alfred Duma as mayor but he was not on the Independent Electoral Commission’s list as a councillor. Sibisi was the caretaker mayor until we sorted out Kunene’s issues, ” said Hlengwa.
Sibisi told Scrolla.Africa that the IFP, his own party, have never informed him about his removal.
