Durban — The ANC regional leadership in KwaDukuza will not discipline ILembe District Municipality mayor Thobani Shandu for the accident that left a Mandeni resident on the North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal in a wheelchair.
Shandu and a companion were driving near Mandeni on December 24 when the mayoral BMW got involved in a collision with an oncoming van.
The driver of the van, Velaphi Mdletshe, who suffered serious injuries in the crash, is now wheelchair-bound. There were rumours that the mayor was driving himself and was under the influence of alcohol. The car was also said to have exceeded the speed limit when the accident happened, which prompted calls for him to be removed. In terms of municipal policy, mayors don’t drive municipality vehicles – drivers are hired for that.
ANC regional secretary Sphe Zulu told the Daily News on Monday that after the party was shown the report, it concluded that it was an accident and was unintentional.
“We were also afforded an opportunity to see an accident report which detailed the extent of the accident, then we concluded that the accident was not intentional and it could have killed all the drivers and the passengers of both vehicles.
“There’s no decision taken specifically against the mayor, but the matter had come to our attention and the advice was issued because the reality is that the fleet management of the municipalities is governed by the council-adopted policies. We advised that the relevant structures and units of the municipality should apply their authority in respect of the business of the municipality without being micromanaged, but guided accordingly. We felt that the accident was not intended, it just occurred unexpectedly causing harm to both parties.”
Zulu further said the ANC was disappointed that this matter had taken a detour from being a road accident to becoming a political matter that was used by provocateurs to take their eyes from the service delivery issues that were their primary mandate and the core responsibility of their structures.
When Mdletshe was approached, he appeared to be in the dark about the report clearing the mayor. He said neither the municipality nor the police had come to him with anything, adding that the only time he saw someone from the municipality was in March when an independent councillor came to visit him.
He said neither the ANC nor the mayor himself had bothered to come and see him, except the mayor's bodyguards who came while he was still at the hospital and left R2 000, which they said was for transport costs.
The municipality was sent questions to clarify which report cleared the mayor but has yet to respond. The mayor is also yet to respond.
Speaking to this paper earlier this year, Mdletshe said although he could not confirm whether it was the mayor himself driving, all he saw before he lost consciousness was a speeding black BMW crashing into his vehicle. He said he was in his lane driving in the opposite direction when the BMW driver lost control and smashed his car, which rolled two times.
Mdletshe said he was with a woman passenger and had his nephew in the back of the van, but he was the only one who suffered serious injuries and spent a month in hospital.
Mdletshe added that his concern was that after being discharged from hospital, he discovered that a police report suggested that he had caused the accident.
He said he suspected either the mayor or the person travelling with him had lied to the police to cover themselves.
He added that while in hospital, he was informed that people from the mayor’s office had been to his house and gave his family R1 000 to come and check on him at hospital. He said another R1 000 was given to the nephew who was in the van.
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Daily News