Durban — Judgment on whether deposed eThekwini deputy mayor Philani Mavundla would return to his job is expected to be delivered at the Durban High Court on Thursday.
Embattled Mavundla was in court for the second time on Friday to challenge the ANC’s decision to remove him, but the matter was postponed to on Thursday after the ANC-led council had filed its responding affidavit.
Mavundla refused to speak about the pending outcome, citing the sub judice clause, but the ANC in eThekwini said his action was synonymous with a person trying to postpone his death.
ANC eThekwini regional secretary Musa Nciki told the Daily News on Wednesday that Mavundla was as good as gone because even if he was to be granted an order on Thursday it did not mean he would stay in the position until the end of the term in 2026.
Nciki said Mavundla was failing to interpret the Municipal Structures Act, which stipulates that although your appointment was for five years, you can be removed through a motion by the council.
He further accused Mavundla of misinterpreting his court interdict judgment the day before the council removed him, saying the court had said if due processes were not followed he should not be removed, but having gone back and corrected the procedure there was nothing stopping the council from removing him.
“We are hopeful that the court will rule in our favour, but even if Mavundla wins he will be back for 10 days before we file another motion, so his attempt to cling to this position is similar to a person trying to postpone his death,” said Nciki.
eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said the council had complied with all that the court wanted and was awaiting the judgment on Thursday.
When Mavundla learnt of the intention to remove him, he wrote to the ANC leadership reminding them of their agreement which he claimed was going to end in 2026.
He argued that his removal would amount to a breach of the agreement.
Seeing that the ANC was ignoring him, Mavundla turned to court and applied for an interdict which was granted.
Despite having an urgent court interdict, the ANC in the e Thekwini Municipality went ahead and removed him three weeks ago in a full council meeting where the motion was tabled.
With the assistance of the EFF, the ANC managed to get 125 votes against 59 who opposed his removal.
Mavundla’s removal looked inevitable a couple of months ago when the Daily News obtained an explosive WhatsApp message which was allegedly penned by mayor Mxolisi Kaunda to him, bashing him for “behaving like a mayor”.
Should Mavundla’s bid to retain his position fail, the position is expected to be taken by Nkosenhle Madlala, the ANC’s eThekwini deputy regional secretary, who comes from the Zandile Gumede faction that won the regional elective conference in April this year.
With his only two seats in the council, Mavundla managed to convince small parties to help the ANC retain the City after failing to get an outright majority in last year’s local government elections.
The agreement forced the ANC to make him a deputy mayor and head of Human Settlements and Infrastructure, a department that controls more than 60% of the City’s budget.
Daily News