23 EFF councillors may lose their jobs
The axe is hanging over the heads of 23 elected KZN councillors after the EFF decided to chop those who come from wards that received fewer than 100 votes.
|||Durban - The axe is hanging over the heads of 23 elected EFF councillors in KwaZulu-Natal after the party decided to chop those who come from wards that received fewer than 100 votes in last month’s local government elections.
The affected councillors had been given until last Sunday to explain why they should not be recalled from their positions in the 22 municipalities.
Party insiders said although the move was aimed at rewarding candidate councillors whose wards performed well, it was set to cause divisions within the EFF.
This comes as some disgruntled members are still unhappy with the nomination of certain councillors as well as calls for the suspension of some leaders, including deputy chairman, Floyd Shivambu, over the party’s election programme in KZN, among other issues.
In a clearest indication that the EFF meant business on its promise to boot out councillors from poor-performing wards, correspondence has been sent out to provinces by secretary-general, Gordrich Gardee.
In a letter to the KZN leadership and deployee to KZN, Mlungisi Rapolile, Gardee said the national leadership had taken a decision at its meeting this month to replace councillors who received fewer than 100 votes in their wards with those “who received the highest vote in that municipality”.
He also said the provinces and deployees had been given until last Monday to provide a report on the implementation plan for the removal of the councillors.
“The report should therefore include a decision taken on the representation by the PR councillors for consideration by the War Council.
“Where such representation cannot be condoned by the collective of War Council deployee, CCT (central command team) and PCT (provincial command team), such a PR councillor should be directed to resign,” Gardee wrote.
The correspondence shows that proportional representation (PR) councillor, Lindani Mthembu of Ward 6 in KwaDukuza Municipality received the lowest number of votes, a mere 13. Mthembu is set to be replaced by Xolani Makhathini from Ward 4, who obtained 301 votes.
Tholinkomo Mngomezulu, whose Ward 2 obtained 745 votes in Nongoma Municipality, will replace Mphiwe Mkhwanazi, whose Ward 31 received only 72 votes.
Mazwi Dunge, whose ward managed to secure 102 votes in Ulundi Municipality, will replace Xolani Mbatha whose ward polled 59 votes.
eThekwini Metro, where there were complaints about councillor nominations, won’t have any of its eight councillors recalled.
“Councillors are not accepting the removal from councils. Things are bitter and things are going to get worse,” said a member who wished not to be named.
Another member questioned the party’s decision when the matter had never been discussed and agreed before the elections.