The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is calling for the results of the investigation into the corruption allegations against former Mandeni mayor Siphesihle Zulu.
Zulu was forced out of office earlier this year after hundreds of protesting community members took to the streets in March demanding his immediate resignation.
During the violent protests that dragged on for most of March, residents of KwaSthebe in Mandeni torched trucks and burnt down three vacant factories at Isithebe industrial park.
Factories and businesses were forced to shut their doors as angry protesters demanded rapid change in Mandeni’s local municipality management.
The community accused Zulu of corruption, maladministration, fraud and other irregularities. Zulu was later elected as the Ilembe district municipality speaker.
The youth league of the General Gizenga Mpanza region said last Friday that they were extremely concerned that no report had been brought back to the community to either verify or disprove the allegations.
“We are calling for transparency, this investigation has taken too long, and we don’t wish it to disappear into thin air without any facts being tabled before the movement and the public,” said spokesperson Ngcebo Magaqa.
Mandeni municipality spokesperson Mdu Manzi confirmed that department of co-operative government and traditional affairs (COGTA) was busy with the investigation and would give feedback once it was done.
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The youth league also accused some of the KwaDukuza sub-region leaders of being behind the delay of the swearing-in of the KwaDukuza mayor and speaker.
“Several attempts to hold a council meetings have evaporated into thin air due to instructions from a sub-regional leadership that contradicts the Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) resolutions and claims authority over these deployees and the municipality,” said Magaqa.
He said council members were told not to attend council meetings deliberately to prevent the PEC resolution from being implemented.
“We are concerned because council meetings are not only about the appointment of political leadership but about critical decisions and political guidance for the municipality, which simply imply that this municipality is currently operating on an autopilot mode, without a mayor as a political head. We strongly believe that this will have dire consequences for service delivery to the innocent people of KwaDukuza who seemingly suffer the most from this power struggle.”
“Sub-regional leadership have openly and without any sense of remorse, undermined the authority of the upper structures of the movement,” he said.
KwaDukuza sub-region secretary Mlekeleli Gcabashe denied that leaders were involved, but said councillors reported to their branches and if their branches said they must not attend a council meeting, they would not attend.
“I will not deny that there are branches of the ANC in KwaDukuza that are not happy about Phumlile Zulu being the mayor of KwaDukuza. The PEC can put anyone in the position but that does not mean the branches cannot express their unhappiness,” said Gcabashe.
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