ANC mum on future of suspended pair
FIFTEEN days after putting two KZN mayors on ice, the ANC is not telling how far it has gone with investigating their matters, saying it would only make announcements about the future of the pair at the end of the 30 days of suspension.
eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede and her Newcastle counterpart Dr Ntuthuko Mahlaba were placed on suspension on June 10.
According to the provincial secretary, Mdumiseni Ntuli, this was to give the party time to investigate allegations that their cases were politically motivated, among other issues.
Gumede left but vowed that she would be back in office after the 30 days, saying she was innocent, while Mahlaba reportedly quietly took his leave, but still refused to meet with the party’s provincial working committee (PWC) and provincial executive committee (PEC).
Gumede is facing fraud and corruption charges emanating from a 2017 waste tender worth R208 million while Mahlaba is facing murder charges emanating from the 2016 shooting and killing of Wandile Ngobeni, an ANC eMalahleni regional youth leader.
Three sources close to Gumede claimed the ANC has not consulted with her since she was suspended.
“Nothing has been done since then and we have no idea what is happening and what is the plan. We will just wait and see what they do next,” the branch secretary said.
Another source said the suspension was a way of the party to ease pressure and he believed that they already know what they will do at the end of the 30 days but wanted to first test the mood.
Gumede refused to comment on the matter when called by Independent Media yesterday.
She said the right people in the provincial office must comment.
When asked how far has the party had gone in investigating the Gumede matter and if there was a possibility that Gumede would return to office when the suspension lapsed, ANC KZN spokesperson Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu was non-committal.
“The ANC will make a pronouncement at the end of the 30 days,” she responded.
Regarding the issue of Mahlaba, Simelane-Zulu refuted claims that they had already alerted him that he would be fired at the end of the 30 days on July 10.
This comes after the PWC on Saturday met with the eMalahleni regional executive committee (REC) where insiders claim that the PWC sent their regional secretary, Chris Mhlophe, to relay the message to Mahlaba.
Mahlaba has adopted a defiant stance against the PWC and PEC and has several times refused to meet with them, sending apologies every time they wanted to meet him over the matter.
“Yesterday’s meeting was a meeting that was looking at what happened during the elections and how do we strengthen the state of the organisation,” Simelane-Zulu said.
However, ANC sources claimed that Mahlaba has been told that he should vacate his office after the 30-day period.
“I think what is happening is that Sihle Zikalala (ANC KZN chairperson) and his PEC are taking a hard stance against Mahlaba because he has been refusing to meet them for quite sometime now,” she said.
“The message that he should leave to focus on his case was given to the regional secretary because he was not there,” one source told Independent Media.