Durban - The ANC-led coalition in the eThekwini Municipality has taken a knock after a key partner within it, Philani “PG” Mavundla of the Abantu Batho Congress (ABC) refused to back a city manager candidate preferred by the governing party.
The ANC in the municipality wanted to have Max Mbili, a seasoned local government expert who among other qualifications holds an MBA, appointed as the next city manager for a term of five years.
Armed with a recommendation from a panel that was interviewing the candidates and which had recommended that the executive committee (exco) must give Mbili the nod, Mavundla – who as part of the coalition deal, was given the position of deputy mayor and chairperson of the human settlements committee – put his foot down, throwing a spanner in the works.
The exco committee is made up of nine members, with the ANC having four seats after it was forced to surrender its fifth seat to Mavundla in exchange for him to back it so that it took over the metro, after failing to gain an outright majority in November last year.
According to a now widely available report – which was signed by mayor Mxolisi Kaunda in his capacity as the chairperson of the exco – when no consensus could be reached on Mbili’s issue, the matter was put to vote.
The DA with its three votes roped in the IFP with its single vote and later Mavundla, to make it five against four, thus defeating the ANC.
BREAKING NEWS: The ANC/ABC coalition in eThekwini has been shaken after deputy mayor, Philani Mavundla, who is president of the latter voted with opposition parties to reject the appointment of Max Mbili as city manager. Mbili is believed to be favored by the ANC. @DailyNewsSA
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) April 4, 2022
Mbili was the best-placed candidate and was followed by Jason Ngubane and then Margaret Skosana. However, the DA claimed that the process was riddled with mistrust, and Mbili’s appointment was a predetermined outcome, hence its opposition to his appointment.
The IFP’s concerns were that none of the city’s “home-grown timber”, like Musa Mbhele, who has been acting in the position for quite some time, featured in the top three. It was rumoured that Mbhele was among the top three, but he was pushed out by the ANC’s deployment committee when it met early last month in Durban.
“Accordingly, by the majority vote, the committee recommends: that the municipal council rejects the report of the interviewing panel recommending the appointment of Mr SM Mbili as the eThekwini Municipality city manager for a five-year fixed-term contract,” Kaunda wrote in his report late on Monday, following the defeat of the ANC’s attempt.
Insiders within the Durban City Hall, the administrative capital of the municipality, claimed that Mavundla’s action put a strain on an already strained relationship between him and the ANC. It is alleged that the ANC feels that Mavundla is using his position to regularly interact with the community, thus overshadowing Kaunda.
Daily News