The Pietermaritzburg High Court has ordered the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) to reinstate Umvoti Mayor Philani Mavundla and speaker Mfundo Masondo.

Both were removed from office last week.

The IFP and ANC had formed a coalition and jointly filed motions for the vote of no confidence against Mavundla — who is also the president of Abantu Batho Congress (ABC) — and the party’s national chairperson, Masondo, who was voted out as the speaker of Umvoti.

Despite the ABC producing the court order interdicting the meeting, the special council meeting continued and Masondo and Mavundla were voted out through a vote of no confidence.

IFP member Gabriel Malembe was elected as the mayor while ANC member Inkosi Bhambatha, the regional chairperson and former deputy mayor of Umvoti Municipality, was elected as the speaker after her resignation as the deputy mayor.

The court order, which has been seen by The Witness also called for Cogta MEC Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi, the Independent Electoral Commission, Umvoti Municipality, Umvoti Municipality’s suspended municipal manager Noxolo Ndaba, as well as Malembe and Ngubane, who are all respondents in the case, to show cause on the August 6 on why the order should not be made final.

Malembe has since resigned as the mayor of Umvoti after his political party said they did not approve the coalition between the IFP and ANC in the municipality and called for his immediate resignation.

Masondo lambasted the MEC for Cogta and deputy director, who chaired the special council meeting last Tuesday.

“It is a flagrant and gross abuse of power of the highest order played by political intolerance and political middling. The court has found that the meeting was illegal and we should not be removed, which for us is a great day for the rule law in South Africa. We stood firm, and always maintained that our so-called removal was illegal and the court proved that,” said Masondo.

Mavundla added it was also decided last week that the suspected municipal manager, Noxolo Ndaba, be reinstated with immediate effect and she reported to work on Monday.

“This triggered us going back to court to fight the illegal and hostile takeover of the council. As alluded to in my letters, we have maintained that we are still a legitimate leadership of the council until proven otherwise by council processes or by court of law,” Mavundla said.