KZN deputy mayor gets the boot in special council meeting

At a council meeting hosted in the scenic Drakensberg Sun Resort, Musa (Sugar) Thwala, was unseated as Newcastle’s deputy mayor yesterday morning.

The council meeting concluded a four-day strategic planning workshop which began on Monday, March 25.

An estimated 100 delegates were accommodated at the Drakensberg Sun and an adjacent facility since Sunday, March 24, departing only after the council meeting today. Speaker, Thengi Zulu, stated during the council meeting that the cost of the workshop was ‘sponsored’.

However, how much of the bill, if any, ratepayers will have to shoulder is yet to be confirmed with the municipality. Councillors who were asked about which company sponsored the four-day stay, said they didn’t know.

The workshop was attended by all of the coalition partners governing the local municipality, and guests included councillors, municipal officials, bodyguards and even some councillors’ spouses, notably that of ActionSA councillor, Faizel Cassim, and the husband of DA councillor, Connie Harriram.

ANC and EFF councillors did not attend, nor did Thwala, although his political party, Team Sugar SouthAfrica (TSSA) was represented at the workshop by its deputy president, Andile Nkosi, and other councillors.

At the council meeting, the draft annual budget as well as the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) were tabled and approved.

Chairperson of the Newcastle Residents Forum (NRF), Matthew Shunmugam expressed disappointment in the council’s cowboy attitude.

“Hosting a council meeting 200km away, where residents are excluded from attending, goes against the standing rules of order of the council. The public is supposed to be invited to council meetings, especially those dealing with the budget and the IDP. My opinion is that this is a gross violation of the code of conduct for councillors who are supposed to encourage community participation. It also shows total disregard of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) and constitutes to fruitless expenditure. How do you plead poverty on one side but do nothing to practice austerity measures?” he said.

The motion to remove Thwala as the Deputy Mayor, and from the Executive Committee (Exco), was discussed in-committee.

Zulu later explained to the media that the reason for the motion against Thwala was that Thwala had failed to attend three consecutive Exco meetings without tendering an apology.

Confidential sources confided in the Newcastle Advertiser that the new deputy mayor is another member of TSSA.

However, Zulu indicated that the council would only confirm who would be taking over from Thwala in a month’s time.

Nkosi declined to comment after the meeting but indicated that a press statement from TSSA would be forthcoming.

The municipal management, including the accounting officer, Zamani Mcineka, were approached for comment via the official communications officer, but were unwilling to engage with the Newcastle Advertiser at the time, and requested a formal media enquiry be submitted to them.

Thwala could not be reached for comment at the time of publishing.