Durban — With the small political parties bloc divided and the ANC/EFF relationship almost at breaking point, eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda’s future appears to be seriously on the line.
Kaunda has been under immense pressure since last week following the Daily News article about the City’s request for a rollover of the R1.9 billion conditional grant from the National Treasury, which was turned down.
Instead, the Treasury approved only R720.9 million and specifically ordered the City to spend it on Human Settlements and coastal sewer repairs.
The rollover amounting to R1.2bn was declined. The City now awaits feedback from the National Treasury. Opposition parties seem not to buy Kaunda’s explanation that the money came late and the City was still engaging with the Treasury to return it.
At Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s Public Memorial Service, the IFP announced that it will file a motion this week to remove Kaunda as mayor but the question was whether the EFF will save him this time.
Kaunda was almost deposed in February in a motion filed by ActionSA’s Zwakele Mncwango, but was saved by the EFF which said it would not assist the right-wing DA to take over the City.
While parties were mulling the IFP’s proposal, saying their caucuses will still have to meet, Kaunda’s future appears to be in the hands of the EFF as a coalition partner.
With 24 seats and one or two votes from small parties, the mayor can see another day in City Hall, but that will depend on the EFF national and ANC provincial leadership meeting which was announced by ANC provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo last week.
Judging by the war of words between the two partners in reaction to the terrible fist-fight during the recent council meeting between the EFF and security officers, it looks like their marriage only existed on paper.
At an ANC media briefing last week, Mtolo launched a scathing attack on the EFF leadership, daring them to end their relationship if they think the ANC would tolerate “thuggish behaviour”.
Mtolo said the ANC will not allow the beating of women in the council by the EFF for the sake of a coalition. The ANC was not built by coalitions, he said, therefore if the marriage has to end so be it.
The EFF fired back, defending its action, saying it would not back down on its call for Kaunda and City Manager Musa Mbhele to account because of their “failure” to spend the infrastructure grants.
On Tuesday, EFF provincial chairperson Mongezi Thwala did not want to be drawn on the IFP’s motion. He called them “opportunists who were in cahoots with the DA which views the EFF as enemy number one”.
He said the EFF will remove Kaunda on its own terms. He, however, hinted that his party will tell the ANC to remove Kaunda if it still wants to work with the EFF.
“We will remove Kaunda on our own terms whether through our meeting with the ANC, or a motion, but we are not concerned about the other party’s motion,” said Thwala.
His party was waiting to engage on the matter, he said.
Weighing in on the ANC and the EFF’s deteriorating relationship, University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Dr Fikile Vilakazi from the Politics and Public Policy department, said Kaunda was as good as gone because of his party’s soured relationship with the EFF which saved him last time.
Vilakazi said she doubts that the EFF can protect Kaunda this time and would ensure that he sinks once and for all.
“I don’t see them saving him this time since a lot of damage has happened between the two parties.
“The EFF has realised that continuing to work with the ANC is suicidal. People have started labelling it ANC-lite, therefore the EFF sees that its identity is in question. Now the EFF wants to end its relationship so that it doesn’t sink with the ANC,” said Vilakazi.
With the EFF practising democratic centralism, Kaunda’s fate was likely to be decided by EFF commander-in-chief Julius Malema.
DA caucus leader Thabani Mthethwa said his party caucus still has to meet, but the DA was on record as saying that Kaunda was “a liability in eThekwini which needed to be removed since nothing works under him”.
ActionSA’s Zwakele Mncwango said his party will support the motion while African Democratic Change’s Visvin Reddy said his party was waiting for the meeting that Kaunda and Mbhele had promised to hold with them today (Wednesday) to discuss the content of the City’s first letter written to the National Treasury. Reddy said the bone of contention was that the Treasury heavily criticised the contents of the letter as being badly written.
In 2021, small parties under Philani Mavundla with two seats and ActionSA under Dr Makhosi Khoza, ensured the ANC retained power, while the EFF saved the ANC earlier this year.
With Mavundla and Khoza out of the picture, it remains to be seen whether the EFF will save Kaunda again.
ANC KZN spokesperson Mafika Mndebele dared the IFP to bring the motion, saying it was doomed to fail.
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