Durban — The National Freedom Party and the EFF in KwaZulu-Natal have called on provincial police management to deploy more police to Nongoma as the new coalition prepares to wrest power from the IFP in the municipality.
NFP provincial secretary Zandile Myeni told the Daily News on Sunday that Nongoma had already been won by her party’s coalition with the ANC and the EFF, so the parties called on the police to ensure the smooth transfer of power.
Myeni said that, given the threats received by opposition councillors, it was of paramount importance that the police had a strong presence inside and outside the council chamber, to ensure no one disturbed the democratic process.
Myeni’s words were echoed by EFF provincial secretary Nkululeko Ngubane, who called on the police not to be spectators, but to immediately eject anyone disturbing the proceedings.
Ngubane said his party expected the police to act in exactly the same manner they had with respect to the EFF’s parliamentary leader during the State of the Nation address two weeks ago, to show impartiality. Parliament’s protection unit, together with the elite police unit, was seen forcing out EFF MPs who, while leaving Parliament, had tried to force their way to the podium where the president was seated.
“We need police to be there, not only to sit and watch the proceedings, but also to act against hooligan behaviour. No one should be allowed to suppress a democratic process,” said Ngubane.
Tempers are expected to flare in the council. The sitting has been enforced by Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Bongi Sithole, who has appointed a representative from the department to conduct the meeting.
This follows the IFP leadership allegedly having thwarted several attempts to have the council sit by ignoring letters calling for the meeting, according to the opposition. By law, if the speaker fails to call the meeting, opposition parties can write to the Cogta MEC to ask for his or her intervention, which they did in the case of Nongoma.
In the 45-seat council, the IFP received 21 seats, the NFP 13, the ANC 8, and the EFF two, while the National People’s Front got one seat. The NAPF was founded by former NFP member Bheki Gumbi in 2018. The NFP and the ANC coalition equalled the IFP’s number of seats, but the EFF with its two seats helped the IFP to take power after the local government elections.
Mangaqa Mncwango was appointed mayor. The NFP increased its seats from 13 to 14 after winning ward 20 from the IFP in a by-election last year. With the EFF dumping the IFP, numbers now strongly favour the NFP/ANC/EFF coalition to seize power from the IFP.
The Daily News understands that the NFP will take the position of mayor, while the ANC will take that of deputy mayor. The EFF will have the speaker’s post.
Nongoma is likely to be the first hung municipality to fall to the new coalition, following the failure of the new bloc to take KwaMaphumulo Local Municipality on Friday.
The meeting collapsed and was postponed to Thursday, but the EFF speaker had already been elected. Both mayor and deputy positions were expected to go to the ANC, while an independent candidate will get the chief whip position. The municipality is currently under the control of the IFP.
Nongoma mayor Mangaqa Mncwango said his party councillors would not be attending any meeting today (Monday), since the meeting called by Cogta MEC was illegal.
He said his party had taken the matter to court, so what happened today would not mean anything until the matter had been decided by the court.
In his response to MEC’s Cogta letter, which notified the speaker of the appointment of the representative to sit the meeting, Mncwango said there had been no reason for the letter, as the speaker had not refused to call a meeting.
NFP leader Canaan Mdletshe said the meeting would go on without IFP councillors, since the NFP/ANC/EFF coalition formed a quorum of the council.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Nqobile Gwala said police will be deployed to monitor the situation.
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