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The Democratic Alliance in KwaZulu-Natal has written to uMngeni acting municipal manager, Sandile Buthelezi, giving him until Monday 15 November 2021 to reconvene the inaugural council meeting.

Should Mr. Buthelezi fail to do so, the DA will approach the Pietermaritzburg High Court on an urgent basis to compel him to call the council meeting. We have also made it explicitly clear that the DA will seek a personal costs order against Buthelezi should we end in court.

In our extensive letter, we make it very clear there can be no doubt that he is the lawful acting municipal manager after he stood back and watched the suspended municipal manager, Thembeka Cibane, run the show in violation of her suspension conditions.

The DA will spare no expense or legal resource to ensure uMngeni Mayor-elect, Chris Pappas, Deputy Mayor-elect, Sandile Mnikathi, and Speaker-elect, Janis Holmes, are lawfully elected so that we can start to deliver services to the residents of the municipality.

We hope Mr. Buthelezi will come to his senses and put the interests of the residents of his municipality first over political trickery.

Issued by DA KZN Chairperson, Dean Macpherson MP