IFP accused of meddling in selection of director

THE IFP has been accused of putting pressure on a KwaZulu-Natal municipal manager to appoint the partner of party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s daughter.

Holstein Ewaen Edayi‚ a Nigerian who is in a relationship with Princess Sibuyiselwe Angela Buthelezi‚ was appointed deputy director of legal strategy‚ monitoring and evaluation on December 1 at the IFP-controlled Zululand District Municipality.

The job comes with a R790 653 salary package‚ medical aid‚ various subsidies and home and car allowances.

A formal complaint has been lodged against Edayi’s appointment by one of the losing candidates.

Edayi was previously employed by the Ulundi municipality‚ where Princess Sibuyiselwe‚ 48‚ worked as municipal manager before she was medically boarded after undergoing spinal surgery. The couple live together in Durban. Two sources with knowledge of the selection process said Zululand municipal manager Sipho Nkosi had been put under pressure to hire Edayi.

“There was indeed pressure to appoint him so that he can support the princess, who is no longer working,” one said.

The other source said as Nkosi was appointed by the IFP, the party could use its majority in council to remove him.

“He [Nkosi] was afraid to appoint a successful candidate and not the Nigerian because he himself is treading carefully as there are attempts to remove him. So he had to appoint [Edayi].”

Nkosi has denied allegations that he had been forced to appoint Edayi, and said Edayi had a Unisa BCom law degree.

The losing candidate who made the formal complaint against Edayi’s appointment is Hopewell Themba Mbatha‚ a Johannesburg advocate.

The DA has formally questioned whether proper processes were followed in a number of recent appointments, including Edayi’s.

Attempts to get comment from the IFP and Edayi failed.