Mtubatuba - ANC KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala will be heading north on Saturday to deliver the ruling party’s manifesto in front of community members from KwaMsane, Mtubatuba, in the uMkhanyakude District.
Zikalala is expected to speak to a full house at the Inkosi Mzondeni Civic Centre ahead of the upcoming local government elections in November, with crowds of ANC members gathering at the event.
The premier has had a busy week ahead of Saturday’s launch, with the provincial government launching a multi-planting campaign in the uThukela district and celebrating international day for senior citizens in Zululand.
Mtubatuba, just north of Richards Bay, is one of five municipalities in the uMkhanyakude District in north-eastern KZN and has a population of just over 200 000 people that are spread across its 20 wards.
The municipality has been under the governance of the IFP since the 2016 local government elections, but was reclaimed by the ANC last year after a vote of no confidence in the mayor, Velenkosini Gumede, was passed.
The uMkhanyakude district is also one of nine in KZN that are in distress, suffering from issues of governance and financial instability, according to Sipho Hlomuka, MEC for Co-operative Governance.
Hlomuka revealed earlier this year that Mtubatuba is under intervention in terms of Section 139 (1)(b) of the Constitution, which provides for the MEC’s intervention in the financial and administrative affairs of the municipality, through an appointed administrator.
Political Bureau