Mayor not suspended, takes 30 days leave

THE IFP says that it has not suspended the mayor, Cllr Martin Mtshali, and that members of the public and their voters need to stay calm.
Rumours of the suspension emerged last week following a special council meeting that was held on Thursday, January 19, where among other matters, the Mayors position was discussed.
According to the IFP’s spokesperson, Cllr Jerry Sibiya, the mayor only submitted a letter requesting that he be relieved from ceremonial functions while he sorts out the fraud allegation from the Department of Education.
“The mayor submitted a letter requesting that he be relieved from ceremonial duties for 40 days, but council agreed to only grant him 30 days leave. It is his right to do so and as a party we had no objections to that,” said Cllr Sibiya.
He went on to explain that a suspension from the party would mean that the mayor forfeits his seat as a councillor and this has not happened.
“We urge the public and our voters to remain calm and respect that the law will take its course. The investigation committee started working on Friday. There is a lot of information we need to compile and we will bring it forward once the investigations are completed,” said Cllr Sibiya.
He concluded by saying that it was important for people to note that the mayor has been granted leave from his ceremonial duties, but will continue to honour his responsibilities as a ward councillor.
“As the IFP we are saying that we will deal with the matter at hand accordingly and maintain that we will continue to put our people first. We would also like to clearly state that we will not entertain political jests aimed at us as we are here to deliver services to the people and have their best interests at heart,” he said.
The DA seems to be happy with the way the IFP is handling matters as the party had previously urged the IFP to take action.
“Although we are all aware of the fact that the mayor remains innocent until proven guilty, it is great to see that the IFP is taking the matter very seriously as per the investigations committee, which has already started working,” said Cllr Sbu Nkosi of the DA.
Cllr Nkosi said that this shows a sense of pro-activity from the IFP’s side and demonstrates that the IFP is willing to work hand-in-hand with the DA instead of just sweeping matters under the rug.
“We can’t pre-empt the outcomes of the investigations of course, but we are confident in the committee and trust that it will bring forward detailed information from which a way forward will be decided,” said Cllr Nkosi, who went on to say that the committee should be left to deal with the matter with no interference.