Durban — Former ANC speaker in Umzumbe Local Municipality Sibonelo Maphumulo has vowed to come back to the council on the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party ticket.
At a media briefing on Tuesday, Maphumulo together with five other ANC councillors announced that they have joined the MK Party.
Maphumulo also announced that he would be contesting his ward 11 under the MK Party and vowed to win it, adding that people loved him in the ward.
The five ANC councillors were among the seven the party had to suspend last month after they allegedly ganged up with the opposition to oust ANC mayor Bongani Nyuswa.
The ANC went to court challenging the legality of the meeting and the court reinstated Nyuswa as mayor, thereby removing the newly-elected IFP mayor Mlungisi Ndlovu.
The councillors, all ward councillors, included Sibonakaliso Hadebe, Bheki Ngema, Thulo Mkhungo, Thuthukani Jeza and Ayanda Duma.
Speaking to the Daily News on Tuesday, Maphumulo said he and the councillors felt it was no longer necessary to continue challenging their suspension and dismissal from the ANC and felt that they should move on with their political careers to the MK Party.
It was premature to talk about other councillors as candidates for their wards since they had just resigned, he said, adding that the MK Party leadership will decide whether it fields them or other candidates.
Maphumulo, who was ward 11 councillor, was fired by the ANC last year but appealed the decision and continued with his position.
Maphumulo has been “a thorn in the ANC’s flesh” since his controversial election as speaker in 2021.
The ANC never wanted him in the first place but he got elected through the support of certain ANC councillors and opposition.
He was accused of going against ANC caucus decisions and working with the opposition until he was eventually charged and found guilty last year. The ANC subsequently fired him as a member of the party.
In a 36-seat council on the South Coast, the ANC had 21 seats and with the six councillors gone, the party remained with 15. The IFP has 14 while the ATM and the Apemo (African People’s Movement) have one each. The EFF has two seats.
This calculation meant that the opposition was currently the majority in the council. With the ANC and former president Jacob Zuma’s relations severely strained, the MK Party was unlikely to co-govern the municipality with the ANC if it wins all the by-elections.
ANC provincial spokesperson, Mafika Mndebele, said it was good riddance, adding that the councillors did not resign but were expelled by the ANC.
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Daily News