Alfred Duma Municipality Mayor, Vincent Mayiboyi Madlala, briefly appeared in the Ezakheni Magistrate’s Court this morning, 2 August. The charges are still unclear, however, it is alleged that Mayor Madala’s arrest is due to being involved in politically-related killings.
The mayor was arrested at his home in Ezakheni Section E. Police could not officially disclose what charges Madala is facing, at the time of the arrest since the SAPS political task team only reports to Police Minister Bheki Cele and no press release has been made.
Alfred Duma Municipal Manager for Communication, Siya Maphalala, said that at this stage no comment can be given. The ANC Provincial Spokesperson, Nhlakanipho Ntombela, said that they are aware of the arrest but are awaiting the police report before comments can be given.
Heavily armed Ezakheni police had swooped down on the mayor’s house on Friday and members of the community said that the police just rushed in. “We were not sure what was going on, only to see that the mayor was being led out by police in handcuffs,” said one of the witnesses.
DA Councillor, Sharon Buys, said the DA notes with disgust the scandalous rumours concerning the arrest of yet another ANC mayor. “The Hawks seem to ‘visit’ the ADLM Mayor on a regular basis and, true to ANC form, the ANC is unable to implement basic consequence management. The splintering of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal is a well-known fact – perhaps the charges are ‘trumped up’ again by opposition within an impotent ANC?” said Buys.
Buys added that needless to say, this is unacceptable on every level as the ADLM’s reputation is brought into disrepute time and time again. The DA will therefore introduce a motion of no confidence in Vincent Mayiboyi Madlala as the mayor. The DA calls upon all councillors who believe in maintaining the integrity of the council, as well as that there should be consequences to support the motion of no confidence.
