Durban — In a surprise move, former eThekwini deputy mayor Philani Mavundla is expected to be elected the mayor of Umvoti Local Municipality in Greytown on Thursday.
In a public notice issued by the municipal manager's office, a special meeting was scheduled for Thursday, where a motion of no confidence was expected to be debated and voted for which could result in the election of new municipality leadership.
Mavundla of the Abantu Batho Congress (ABC) told the Daily News on Wednesday that if all went well he would be a mayor by the end of Thursday.
"Although there is still a lot of resistance I think by the end of business on Thursday things may have drastically changed," Mavundla said.
After resigning as a councillor in the eThekwini Municipality following his ousting as deputy mayor, Mavundla returned to his hometown of Greytown in the midlands of the province, where he agreed to work with the ANC to remove the IFP.
According to an ANC councillor who spoke on condition of anonymity, in the arrangement, both parties agreed to share power where Mavundla would take the mayoral seat while ANC took other senior positions which include speaker and deputy mayor.
The move by Mavundla surprised many, following his protracted public and legal battle with both eThekwini and provincial ANC leadership over his removal as deputy mayor after helping the party to retain the city.
Signs that Mavundla was planning to dislodge IFP in Greytown became evident last week when he suddenly blamed the party for failing to provide water and sanitation to the residents.
In a video clip on Wednesday, Mavundla exposed several broken Umzinyathi District Municipality water tankers and lashed out at the district mayor Petros Ngubane.
In a 25-seat council, IFP won nine followed by the ANC with eight while Mavundla's ABC got seven. With the assistance of ABC, IFP was able to govern the municipality.
IFP and the district municipality have yet to comment on the developments.
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