BLOOD stains had to be scrubbed off the carpets at the AbaQulusi municipality’s council chambers on Monday.
A meeting between the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the local IFP structure held over the weekend was interrupted when a bloody brawl broke out between national council member, Smangaliso Zwane (the son of the deputy mayor of AbaQulusi), and a local IFP member, Sipho Mpanyane.
The IFP’s chief whip for the AbaQulusi constituency, Jerry Sibiya, confirmed that the two IFP members had come to blows and had to be separated.
However, he denied rumours that the altercation had to do with the NEC wanting to remove Martin Mtshali as mayor of AbaQulusi, and Michael Khumalo as speaker.
“Cllr Khumalo is still the speaker and Cllr Mtshali is still the mayor. The 30-days leave that Cllr Mtshali took to sort out the fraud allegations from the Department of Education expired on February 19, so he resumed his role as mayor on February 20,” said Cllr Sibiya.
“In terms of the constitution of the IFP, once you become an office bearer at the municipality, you cannot hold an office bearing position in the party structures within that area. Cllr Khumalo was the chairperson of the regional sub-committee of the IFP, and Cllr Mtshali was the secretary of that same structure. They were asked by the NEC to resign from their positions within the IFP because they also hold positions in the AbaQulusi council. We decided that the deputy chairman, Cllr Mandla Mazibuko, will act as chairman, and deputy secretary, Kehla Mkwanazi, will act as secretary, until the next IFP conference which is likely to take place in May.”
According to Cllr Sibiya, the squabble between Mr Zwane and Mr Mpanyane had nothing to do with Cllr Mtshali or Cllr Khumalo.
“They were fighting over a Facebook post Mr Zwane had posted, which had turned into an online argument between the two, but I don’t know what the Facebook post was about. Neither of them was seriously injured. Once we broke up the fight, the meeting continued but Mr Zwane and his mother, Cllr Zwane, asked to be excused,” explained Cllr Sibiya.
It is believed that some members of the NEC, including Mr Zwane, are at loggerheads with local IFP members over their decision to appoint Dalisu Zulu as acting municipal manager, and that the NEC is attempting to have Bongiwe Mnikathi re-instated in the position instead.
Cllr Sibiya, however, said that AbaQulusi’s IFP councillors were happy with Mr Zulu’s performance and added that Mr Zulu will continue as acting municipal manager until an official appointment is made.
“The position will be advertised as a matter of urgency. A recruitment panel will be selected soon. I believe that Dr Vusumuzi Mthembu would have made a positive impact in AbaQulusi considering that he is ranked the number two municipal manager in the country in terms of performance management, but we will unfold the recruitment process, following the correct procedures. We can’t delay this anymore or we will have problems later on,” concluded Cllr Sibiya.
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