KZN Premier shocked by Ugu mayor’s death

Premier of KwaZulu-Natal Nomusa Dube-Ncube has received with shock the news of the death of Ugu District Municipality mayor, Phumlile Mthiyane barely a week after the death of the municipal manager, Dr Elliot Ntombela.

Dube-Ncube said Mthiyane died after a short illness, adding that the Ugu District Mayor had yesterday visited the family of Ugu municipal manager Dr Ntombela who had died a few days ago.

“An unusual and very painful tragedy has happened in the Ugu District Municipality. Lightning has struck twice in the same place leaving us all in tears that will take time to dry, and our province is much poorer for it, we are devastated by the sudden deaths of Her Worship, mayor Mthiyane just days after the death of the municipal manager Dr Ntombela,” said Premier Dube-Ncube.
She added that Mthiyane was sworn as mayor in 2021 and Dr Ntombela became municipal manager in October 2022.

“This is a double tragedy whose impact effectively decimates the top leadership of the Ugu District Municipality in a matter of days. We were expecting to be with the mayor this week and God unfortunately had other plans for her. The death of Her Worship, mayor Mthiyane leaves a gaping wound in our province as she was one of our best rising leaders in local government. It is a great shock to us. Both the mayor and the municipal manager had been central cogs in implementing the programmes to resolve the water challenges in the Ugu District and were leading figures in the water war room working daily to effect progress,” said Dube-Ncube.

She added: “On behalf of government and the people of KwaZulu-Natal, we express sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Councillor Mthiyane. We also take this opportunity to pay our deepest respects to the family of Dr Ntombela, the municipal manager. May their souls rest in eternal peace.”

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