It was a decisive victory for the African National Congress (ANC) when their councillors took the top three positions in the running of the Umdoni Municipality after they were voted in during the inaugural sitting of the council on Monday, 22 November. Councillor Sibongile Khathi retained her position of mayor with a majority of votes cast in her favour over the strong opposition, the Democratic Alliance’s Councillor Edwin Baptie.
Mayor Khathi will be seconded by Deputy Mayor Mthandeni Mbutho with Mbali Cele being tasked with wrangling the council, once hung municipality, in the position of Speaker of the House.
In her maiden address, recovering from the flu, Mayor Khathi urged all councillors and political parties to work together in improving the lives of Umdoni residents through service delivery and job creation.
She said: “All 37 councillors under the municipality have made an oath to serve the people of Umdoni regardless of colour and whatever political party they may be affiliated with. As the ruling party we vow to solve our mistakes. The negatives may be glaring but there were services delivered and positive change brought about by the outgoing council.”
In a bid to improve the working relationship between the council and the people, Mayor Khathi urged all traditional leaders to also be part of the transformation of troubled Umdoni. “All parties must work together to stabilise Umdoni which was destabilised by the vacant position of municipal manager (MM) and chief financial officer (CFO).
Going forward there will be consequence management and all personnel that fail to execute their duties will be eliminated.”
The newly-elected mayor also confirmed the appointment of Silindile Vilakazi to the position of CFO. Her tenure will run until August 2026. Vilakazi will work along side Thabisile Ndlela who officially took up office as the MM on 1 November, with her contract ending on 31 October 2022.
The return of Mayor Khathi and the ANC was, however, met with mixed reaction from some opposition parties and residents. The leader of the Allied Movement 4 Change (AM4C), Councillor Roy Bhoola, said the party abstained from voting as they believe the process undermined democracy as no one political party had a clear majority.
Cllr Bhoola said: “The agreement between the IFP and the ANC was for convenience and not conviction. Furthermore, all the elected office bearers were through negotiations.
This will continue to deliver Umdoni as a community in limbo. In light of the indignity of poverty, pathetic conditions of service delivery, unimaginable levels of fraud and corruption and a dysfunctional council, we believe what was needed is a constructive meeting with all political parties to conclude negotiations. This would have brought about unity, stability and ultimately restored service delivery. This move has left ratepayers, once again, on the back foot.”
While Umzinto resident, Sizakele Sithole, applauded the re-appointment of Mayor Khathi, she said: “Ever since she came in as mayor there’s been noticeable change around Umdoni. If she can carry on like this and solve the water issue then things will be good once again for us residents.”
