Opposition parties staged a walkout from the KwaDukuza Town Hall this morning (January 29), accusing council speaker Dolly Govender of unfairly limiting the powers of councillors.

The dramatic exit from the first public council meeting of the year followed a heated dispute over whether proportional representation (PR) councillors should be permitted to issue proof of residence letters to community members.

Only ward councillors are currently allowed to issue the letters in KwaDukuza.

Opposition parties pointed to a written directive from KZN Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) MEC, Rev Thulasizwe Buthelezi, instructing the municipality to allow PR councillors the privilege as part of their official duties.

While Govender did not deny the legitimacy of the directive, she said she was awaiting further guidance from the South African Local Government Association (Salga) before making a final decision.

She maintained that she could not proceed without Salga’s advice.

Her stance sparked an immediate backlash from opposition benches, with councillors accusing the speaker of deliberately delaying the implementation.

Democratic Alliance caucus leader Privi Makhan said the speaker was acting in the interests of her party rather than the municipality.

“This is about the ANC holding onto its dwindling power in this council and we will not tolerate it,” said Makhan.

ActionSA caucus leader Nel Sewraj agreed, adding that he believed Cogta’s directive should be final.

“Cogta is a legal authority. Who instructed the speaker to consult Salga? This is a political decision and we do not accept it,” said Sewraj.

Following the walkout, Govender printed an email from Salga and distributed it to councillors who remained in the chamber. The email was also sent electronically to those who had walked out.

In the correspondence, Salga stated that current legislation does not clearly define the roles of PR councillors.

It cautioned that issuing proof of address letters could be open to abuse if not properly regulated, citing previous challenges in other municipalities.

Salga further advised that it does not support political parties issuing such letters and recommended that the responsibility remain with ward councillors and designated municipal officials.

Council had not been rescheduled at time of publication.

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