The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has removed the embattled mayor of eThekwini Municipality and redeployed him to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).
“We recall that Cde Mxolisi Kaunda served as the MEC for Transport, Community, and Liaison until his redeployment to eThekwini Municipality in August 2019.
“As we usher in a new era following the national and provincial elections, we are identifying key areas that require urgent focus,” the ANC provincial secretary, Bheki Mtolo.
He added that Kaunda has an important role to play in the NCOP.
“We extend our appreciation to him for his dedication during the most difficult period such as the ravaging floods, the outbreak of Covid-19 and many other challenges. Equally, we thank him for serving the people of eThekwini with dedication,” Mtolo added.
He said Kaunda’s replacement will be announced following consultation with relevant structures and leadership.
Kaunda, previously KZN MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, took over the hot seat from Zandile Gumede after she was axed after she was arrested and charged for fraud and corruption emanating from a 2017 R208 million waste tender.
Under his watch, the city has faced myriad of service delivery failures from taps running dry for months in areas north of Durban, power failures and sanitation issues.
According to a municipal ranking report, known as the Governance Performance Index (GPI), released by Good Governance Africa (GGA) recently, placed the eThekwini Municipality’s poor service delivery performance at seventh place for municipal function out of eight metros across the country.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance has welcomed news of Kaunda’s “firing” as mayor.
“The DA has been consistently calling for the removal of Kaunda and welcomes the action that has been taken by his political party to finally remove him,” said eThekwini caucus leader, Thabani Mthethwa.
He added that the DA is prepared to engage with other political parties that are serious about stabilizing eThekiwni, which includes tabling a credible plan to end water outages and invest in much needed infrastructure.
“We will work with the incoming Provincial Government to ensure the municipality gets back on track to deliver quality services to every resident across the metro,” he said.
The Inkatha Freedom Party’s Velenkosini Hlabisa said Kaunda’s recall had nothing to do with ongoing talks of forming a Government of National Unity (GNU).
-IOL Politics
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