Sihle Mavuso presents the latest news from KwaZulu-Natal.
Ulundi – A war is brewing in KwaCeza near Ulundi in northern KwaZulu-Natal where there is a fight over land. The fight is between those who say they fall under the Ndebele traditional court while others claim to be under the authority of Osuthu. As a result, the two competing tribal authorities are allocating land to people. The communities have been removing each other’s fences, leading to confrontations. The community from the Ndebele clan wants the Zulu royal family and government to intervene and solve the dispute.
Pietermaritzburg – Despite total collapse in service delivery, the provincial government has announced that it has decided to lift the decision to place the ANC-run Msunduzi local municipality in Pietermaritzburg under administration. This is while other municipalities led by the opposition IFP are still under administration.
Newcastle – Team Sugar South Africa (TSSA), the coalition partner of the IFP in the Newcastle municipality, has sacked its three councillors who voted for the removal of Musa Thwala as the deputy mayor. Thwala is the president of TSSA and the vote to remove him was because of factionalism in the party. Among those expelled in absentia was Andile Nkosi, the party’s deputy president.
Umzumbe – The ANC-run Umzumbe municipality in the south of the province says its municipal manager is in office legally. It says the contract of Nandi Dlamini was extended to 31 August 2024 following a directive from the provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. This was after the council allegedly failed to appoint a municipal manager within the stipulated six months after the vacancy was declared. The statement by the municipality follows an incident on Monday when the main municipal offices were closed to prevent Dlamini from executing her duties on the basis that she did not have a valid contract.
Durban – ActionSA has undertaken to investigate the controversial Durban harbour fencing that has caused an uproar. The fencing project was first flagged by the rail union Satawu when it said the initial project was to cost R16-million but later ballooned to R105-million. The union claimed that Transnet was wasting money by replacing a good fence with palisade fencing. Presenting its plan to fix the country’s port and rail network if they win the elections, ActionSA told a media briefing in Durban that it would investigate the matter once the ANC is ousted from power after the 29 May elections.
Pictured above: Residents of KwaCeza say there is a brewing fight in their area over land.
Image source: Supplied
