A heated argument caught on video between Ray Nkonyeni Municipality (RNM) speaker Phumlani Gumbi and municipal employee Bongani Gcaba is trending on social media.

In the video Gumbi is heard calling Gcaba a hooligan and saying that he comes from a political party of hooligans and that he has no position in the community.

The incident occurred on July 15 at a community hall handover in Nkulu area in Gamalakhe.

Gcaba questioned why no community members were present when the hall is for the community and why were people not invited.

In the video Gcaba is emotional and loud asking why the community was not informed about such an important project.

That is when Gumbi shouted and called Gcaba and his political party hooligans.

According to Gcaba, he had questions for the mayor of RNM, Zodwa Mzindle, on the day but Gumbi did not allow for a show of hands.

“That hall was opened on November 19 last year, so I wanted to check why it was reopened. I even have photos of the mayor at the opening, but I am puzzled. Also, when I asked the ward councillor about the hall, he said he had no idea of it being opened.”

Gcaba then laid an official complaint at the Mavundla Traditional Authority that Gumbi had defamed him.

“Today, I was at the traditional court to state my case and explain in detail how it started. The MK Party has also opened a case against Gumbi because he called our party a hooligan’s party and how he behaved.”

According to Gumbi, he still stands by his words directed at Gcaba and his party and that he has no peace to offer him.

“He behaved wrongfully in front of the chief and was not showing respect. If we had let him ask questions we would have to let everyone speak. We have proper channels through which people are allowed to ask questions. This event was not about that, it was solely about the handover.”

The speaker also explained that the hall was not opened last year.

“A poster was circulated last year about the opening, however, when we conducted a site inspection we were not satisfied with a lot of things in the hall, including the kitchen, the floor and built-in cupboards, so we postponed it and requested the service provider to fix it, to make sure we hand over a proper hall to the people.”

He also added that the date on the poster at the hall was changed to July 15 (for the handover).

Gumbi also cleared up that when he said Gcaba was ‘a nobody’ he meant who is he in the community, is he the spokesperson for the community or does he hold a leadership position.

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