Upheaval over Ward 34 councillor ‘vacancy’
This stems from the municipal manager having declared a vacancy for the Ward 34 councillor position last week.
ANDREW Akkers says he has engaged the services of an attorney after the municipal manager declared a vacancy for the Ward 34 councillor position.
This stems from Akkers being unveiled as a member of ActionSA in July where the party said in a statement he had officially joined their ranks.
Akkers, however, who was voted in as an Independent Candidate in 2024, where he won 43% of the vote, disputes this.
“I have never been an ActionSA councillor and have never served on the ActionSA caucus. While I have publicly announced that I will be contesting the 4 November Local Government Elections as the ActionSA Ward 34 candidate, I have not become a member of ActionSA,” he said.
Related story: Ward 34 councillor joins ActionSA
Akkers said he has written to both the Speaker’s Office and the Electoral Commission (IEC) disputing both the factual and legal basis of the decision to declare the vacancy but had received no response.
“I have now formally instructed my attorneys, who have issued a letter of demand to the Speaker’s Office and copied the Electoral Commission. The letter records that there is no factual basis for concluding that I have become a member of ActionSA, that the process followed was procedurally unfair, and calls upon the Speaker to withdraw the purported declaration of vacancy and provide the documents and evidence relied upon. It further records that, should these issues not be addressed urgently, an application will be launched in the High Court for appropriate declaratory, interdictory and review relief,” he said.
The Northglen News has written to the eThekwini Municipality for comment but they had not responded at the time of publishing.
KZN IEC spokesperson Thabani Ngwira confirmed a vacancy had been declared.
“According to law it is a Municipal Manager (MM) that declares a vacancy in a municipality. In accordance to this, the Commission received a notification from eThekwini MM declaring a vacancy on 31 July 2026 at 13:28, emanating from a Ward 34 Independent Candidate joining a political party,” he said.
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