eThekwini without mayor after election postponed

The election of eThekwini's mayor has been postponed as the municipality was unable to secure teams to oversee the voting process and swear in the candidate.

Council speaker Thabani Nyawose said a new mayor to succeed Mxolisi Kaunda was on the agenda at a full council meeting on Tuesday. 

However, it was postponed, as an Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) team wasn't available to preside over the process.

“If you’re going to elect the mayor, the IEC must be present to preside over the process because the election must be done through a secret ballot. I could not secure an IEC team to assist,” Nyawose said.

“An IEC official indicated there are other urgent engagements they have to attend to.”

He said the chief magistrate who was to preside over the swearing in had also pulled out.

“There was a commitment the chief magistrate was going to be here, but yesterday [Monday] I was told he had apologised that he would not be here and I must look for another date.”

eThekwini has been without a mayor since Kaunda was redeployed by the ANC to the National Council of Provinces two weeks ago.

Former KwaZulu-Natal agriculture and rural development MEC Cyril Xaba was tipped as the mayor-elect ahead of police minister Bheki Cele and former premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube in the ANC selection process.

However, Nyawose said political parties had indicated they were not yet ready to conclude discussions since there was a “hung municipality” and they requested more time to finalise negotiations.

“The engagements between political parties are ongoing, though that is not an issue for me. When they raised it with me, I told them my priority is to see stability in my council.”

Nyawose said he will convene a special meeting by mid- or late July to elect the new mayor.

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