A small town in KwaZulu-Natal has been without a permanent mayor for five months as ANC councillors repeatedly fail to turn up for council meetings.
ANC bigwigs in KwaZulu-Natal are furious about what they call a "breakdown of discipline" in party ranks in the small town of KwaDukuza, an hour's drive from Durban.
The position became vacant when the mayor, Ricardo Mthembu, was sworn in as a member of the provincial legislature after the May 8 elections. Deputy mayor Dolly Govender has been acting in the position since then.
The party's deployment committee chose council speaker Phumlile Zulu as Mthembu's replacement.
The ANC also instructed its councillors to elect Greater KwaDukuza ANC spokesperson Lucky Makhathini to replace Zulu as speaker.
But two council sittings failed to fill the two posts as 20 ANC councillors failed to show up.
"In essence, two council meetings were convened and could not have quorum due to more than 20 ANC councillors who for various reasons such as ill-health and family commitments could not turn up for meetings," reads a provincial working committee (PWC) report tabled at a recent provincial executive committee (PEC) meeting of the party.
After the no-show the provincial secretariat office called a meeting of all ANC councillors at which the issue of their conduct was discussed in "greater detail".
However, according to the report, the meeting could not properly conclude its business.
The PWC mandated the PEC to pay closer attention to the General Gizenga Mpanza region, under which the municipality falls, specifically the KwaDukuza sub-region "given the level of animosity and hatred between and among comrades".
Mthembu, who is now the ANC provincial spokesperson, downplayed the divisions.
"We are in the process of filling those positions. They will be sworn in very soon," he said.
"Where the meeting didn't take place, I think there was a mistake where some councillors were allowed to take leave. The meeting was then cancelled. It is not because there are problems, it is a matter of instituting another meeting where the mayor will be inaugurated."
He said the office of the provincial secretary was dealing with the matter.
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