Donning their bright-orange T-shirts, disgruntled National Freedom Party (NFP) supporters set off to the Inkosi Langalibalele municipal buildings last Wednesday.

Amid heavy police presence, Mayor Jabulile Mbele waited for calm before addressing the angry crowd.
They marched, while armed with palm tree branches, sticks and placards.

SEE MORE HERE: WATCH: Disgruntled NFP supporters protest outside municipality

The NFP handed over a memorandum to Mrs Mbele, which she signed. The memorandum demanded service delivery such as electricity, water and toilets.

Among their demands was that Deputy Mayor Bhekithemba Abel Dlamini return to council and that they be given their seats back.

The protesters were heard saying that they want answers immediately and would not leave the municipality until they were happy.
During the last Local Government Elections, a political agreement was reached between the NFP and AL Jama-ah.
NFP voted AL Jama-ah, jointly winning them two seats in the local council.

According to AL Jama-ah president Ganief Hendricks, the NFP did not pay the required deposit in time and could not vote, so only AL Jama-ah appeared on the ballot sheets and not the NFP.

“We agreed that the NFP would vote for us, which won us two seats in Estcourt. We were then approached by then Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to give the African National Congress (ANC) our seats to have majority, promising us the position of deputy mayor. On the other hand, the Inkhata Freedom Party (IFP) also made an offer to gain majority, promising the position of Speaker,” explained Mr Hendricks.

They agreed on the deputy mayor position, which was taken up by Mr Dlamini, who is also the National Chairperson of the NFP.
Mr Hendricks went on to explain that they have removed Mr Dlamini, as he went against the political agreements made.

“Mr Dlamini refused to step down. We were dragged to High Court, where the NFP lost the case. The deputy mayor position is now vacant. Mr Dlamini has not paid his party contributions for the past year as well. I will meet with the KwaZulu-Natal Premier this week to resolve the matter, but I do share sympathy with the NFP, who want service delivery.”

Speaking to the Estcourt News, Mr Dlamini confirmed that he is not a councillor or the deputy mayor. He wished to say that the NFP is fighting for their seats back and that he will fight for his people.

“I will fight until the end; I was the one who arranged with my party to vote for AL Jama-ah. These people are fighting for their seats back. As you know, AL Jama-ah does not exist in Estcourt. Why does the president of AL Jama-ah not come down and sort this matter out himself? Instead he sends other people because he wants them to fight among each other. He lives in Cape Town and does not care what happens here,” he said firmly.

AL Jama-ah was known to have thrown the NFP a lifeline; this was set only for a period of two and a half years.
Mr Hendricks and the party says they have great respect for Mr Dlamini, but he must honour the agreement.

“He is a man of high integrity and must now live up to the values he is known for. Once that is accepted, we can engage further. One never knows the outcome. Mr Dlamini was supposed to leave his position in September 2018. We met at the airport in Durban and he asked for an extension until the end of the year. We granted this concession, but he stopped his party contributions, which the city manager confirmed in the High Court. He claimed under oath that his party contributions were up to date, which was not true,” announced Mr Hendricks.

Going forward, Mr Hendricks wants Mr Dlamini to inform his supporters of the political agreement.
“After six months in office, we had three signed petitions to replace Mr Dlamini by NFP members. We kept our word and rejected this. We informed Mr Dlamini and he was grateful. Now he must keep to his word and be honourable,” said Mr Hendricks.

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