RNM mayor responds to MEC’s visit

The mayor of Ray Nkonyeni Municipality, Zodwa Mzindle, said that KZN Cogta MEC Rev Thulasizwe Buthelezi‘s recent visit to Port Shepstone was not helpful because he did not give them a solution.

Mzindle said this during a media briefing with RNM’s TROKIA (leadership team) on Tuesday last week.

“To date, Buthelezi has not told us how he will help us resolve the issue or find a solution. The media was also in the meeting on that Friday. I believe you also did not hear how exactly he is going to assist us; instead, he told us to find a solution, and we will do just that.”

Mzindle said that RNM is aware that everyone is desperate to get a solution; unfortunately, Cogta’s intervention has yet to yield any result.

“We acknowledge and take full responsibility that as a municipal council and TROIKA, we are responsible for the stability of this municipality, ensuring our community is served the best way possible, within the limits of resources available. In the meeting on Friday, it became clear the perception is that the municipality is not doing anything about the situation.”

Mzindle also explained that she was absent from the meeting because Buthelezi invited her on Thursday, and she had other meetings to attend to as the mayor.

Furthermore, she said RNM has a solution strategy to get things back to normal.

Another meeting took place last Wednesday to find a solution so that workers can return to work.

Mzindle said that there will be consequences because the strike is illegal, and the workers have been asked to go back to work.

When asked if any workers were suspended, she said it is between the employer and employee to ascertain what action can be taken.

“At the moment, no one has been suspended, but there is an intention to, and their (workers) heads of departments have been made aware and cannot share that information with the public.”

Also, Mzindle said since the start of the protest, RNM has been working with the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) and does not know why Buthelezi has to blame them.

The speaker of the municipality, Phumlani Gumbi, said that negotiations are going well.

Gumbi said that what Buthelezi said and the letter he read out at the stakeholders’ meeting were two different issues.

“The letter said that at the moment, negotiations are going well and that we would contact the MEC if we see that we are struggling to find a way forward. It did not say that ‘things are under control’.”

Gumbi said as the leadership of RNM, they are still negotiating with SAMWU, and it is going well.

However, SAMWU’s regional secretary, Ntombifuthi Mzotho, said that they have not had any fruitful meetings with RNM’s leadership.

“We were called to a meeting in Durban on Wednesday. We don’t know why, because we have venues in Port Shepstone. In November 2024, we had a meeting with TROIKA where we were given a proposal of being paid in three month increments. On December 2, the municipal manager, Khetha Zulu, told us that TROIKA is no longer involved in the negotiations and that we were talking to the wrong people.”

She said Tuesday’s meeting was the first with RNM’s leadership after the MEC’s visit.

Mzotho added that SAMWU is no longer open to any kind of negotiation with RNM unless they are being told when they are getting their money.

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