Durban - The EFF in Zululand has written to the municipal manager of the Zululand district municipality asking him to remove the only councillor of the NFP, Bethuel Nxumalo.
The EFF claims that Nxumalo is not gazetted by the IEC and as such, his presence in the council is illegal.
This is contained in a letter written by Thulani Ndlovu to the municipality dated February 14, 2023.
In the letter, Ndlovu said after noting the regular attendance of Nxumalo at council meetings his party took the liberty of checking with the IEC regarding the standing of Nxumalo in terms of councillors gazetted by the IEC.
He said they noted with shock and disbelief that the IEC gazetted list has no such person as Bethuel Nxumalo, instead, it has the name of S R Nkosi as councillor of the Zululand District Municipality.
NEWS: The EFF in Zululand has written to the municipal manager of the Zululand distr municipality asking him to remove the only councillor of the NFP, Bethuel Nxumalo. The EFF claims that Nxumalo is not gazetted by the IEC & as such, his presence in the council is illegal. @IOL
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) February 15, 2023
“This is a serious breach from the side of the municipal manager, who as the accounting officer had to ensure that only those gazetted by the IEC could participate as councillors in council meetings.
"A list of councillors as provided by the IEC is attached to this letter for your noting.
“As the EFF, we want you as the municipal manager to answer the following questions:
“1. How this did happen and how was it not picked up by the accounting officer as required?
“2. How was someone not gazetted by the IEC allowed to participate in council meetings?
“3. What are the legal implications of the participation of Mr Nxumalo in council meeting?
“What would the council do if someone was to challenge and apply to have all meetings where Mr Nxumalo participated declared null and void?
“4. How much has Mr Nxumalo been paid, both in remuneration and allowance, who should be called to pay these monies?
"Shouldn't these be listed as irregular expenditure?
“5. We instruct you to comply with the amendment of the Structures Act on the declaration of councillors as per the above to reinstate Mr S R Nkosi as the right councillor appearing on the declaration of councillors and gazetted by the IEC," Ndlovu demanded.
Ndlovu said they want the matter to be addressed urgently, failing which, they would approach the KwaZulu-Natal department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs for recourse.
“We require the report on the above-mentioned issues within 48 hours turnaround time as this is a matter of urgency.
“We request the municipal manager to come back to us with answers failing which we will be seeking the intervention of the MEC for Cogta in KZN,” Ndlovu wrote to the municipal manager.
The secretary-general of the NFP, Canaan Mdletshe, promised “IOL” that he would comprehensively address the matter on Thursday.
Recently, Nxumalo pitted himself against his party when he revealed that he voted with the IFP when a new deputy mayor was elected to fill the vacancy left by the EFF when it pulled out of the coalition with the IFP.
He allegedly said the NFP cannot discipline him since the court has ruled that they have no official structure and they have no powers to recall councillors and Members of Parliament.
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