• The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal wants its eThekwini speaker, Thabani Nyawose, to take strong action against EFF councillors.
• ANC provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo says the coalition with the EFF in eThekwini hinges on the red berets’ behaviour in council.
• Mtolo took exception to long-time ANC leader Derek Hanekom for questioning their decision to appoint former president Jacob Zuma to head campaign efforts.

ANC KwaZulu-Natal secretary Bheki Mtolo came out to bat for the eThekwini metro after its failure to spend R1.5 billion, but he swung aggressively against the EFF which brought Tuesday’s council sitting to a halt.

He was addressing the media on Thursday, after a two-day provincial executive committee meeting.

If Treasury follows through with its intention to take back the money, the implications will be continued water and infrastructure woes in Durban and surrounds. 

Mtolo said the National Treasury allocated the money to the metro in March and that the spend deadline was in June, when the financial year ended.

In statements on Tuesday, after the chaotic and violent council meeting, the DA and the EFF said the City was allocated R1.9 billion, with Treasury taking this money back and returning just over R700m to the City’s coffers. But the ANC says the amount underspent was R1.5 billion. 

READ | eThekwini ANC Speaker vows to charge EFF under new council rules; party wants to talk to EFF

The DA called for the resignations of Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda, municipal manager Musa Mbhele and EFF councillor, Bhekithemba Mvubu, who doubles as the human settlements and infrastructure portfolio chairperson. The EFF called for Kaunda and Mbhele’s heads.

But Mtolo said it was impossible to spend R1.5 billion in three months, and added that the funding was meant for more than 700 projects. 

Mtolo said: 

Nonetheless, he said, the housing and infrastructure portfolio committee, which also oversees water and sanitation, is headed by the EFF.

His comments come a day after ANC speaker Thabani Nyawose told News24 that EFF councillors who were involved in a brawl with council security, would be dealt with. 

He said: 

Because of this, he said, the EFF, “which behaves like school kids”, practically runs eThekwini. 

If anyone was to blame for the underspending, it was the political leadership of the EFF in eThekwini, where the red berets have Mvubu chairing the key housing and infrastructure committee under a coalition agreement between the two parties, according to Mtolo.

The phones of EFF provincial chairperson Mongezi Twala and his fellow fighter, KwaZulu-Natal secretary Nkululeko Ngubane, were not answered. Their comments will be added once received. 

Meanwhile, back at the briefing, Mtolo said Mvubu – whom he referred to as “that guy” and “that boy of the EFF” – can’t “comprehend the complexities” of running a city.

“The problem is they deployed someone who has no capacity to know he’s in charge,” Mtolo said. He said the City would engage with Treasury on the underspending. 

Mtolo added that the EFF has to remove Mvubu and offer the coalition a competent person. He threatened that the ANC would remove Mvubu if the EFF failed to act.

“We’re not worried about the working relationship we have with the EFF in eThekwini. There are things we can’t agree on. They are behaving in eThekwini as though they’re a helpless opposition. That guy is in charge of R43 billion [30-33min] and 8 000. They must tell what they’re doing with water and sanitation,” Mtolo said. 

Mtolo said the EFF employed a person who has no capacity.

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Mtolo went as far as calling the EFF a “non-starter” in the by-elections when he spoke about his party’s recent win of Ward 9 in eThekwini. 

Using the soccer example of Kaizer Chiefs’ eight-year trophy drought, Mtolo said political parties go to the polls knowing they will lose against the ANC, but still believing they’ll somehow win.  

“All indications are there that we’re going to win the elections,” he said. 

Commenting on the EFF, Mtolo went for the jugular, criticising EFF president Julius Malema’s stance on illegal immigrants, which the provincial secretary said mirrored the views of some white people who believe that black people are innately lazy. 

He said the EFF could “do whatever they want” but that the ANC would not do things that are wrong just to remain in a coalition. 

“They must start to understand that in eThekwini they’re in charge of R43 billion,” Mtolo said. 

He added that when eThekwini residents have water issues: “They must phone that boy of the EFF.”

Mtolo said the EFF didn’t want Kaunda because of differences with the incumbent mayor and Malema – who he called “vindictive” – over a tiff that allegedly dates back to their ANC Youth League days. 

“If it affects our relationship, let it be,” Mtolo said.

He added:

“We didn’t enter the coalition for tenders,” Mtolo said, in response to a reporters’ question about why unsigned service providers’ letters of appointment were stacking up in Mbhele’s office. 

If signed, these letters would’ve seen the returned budget spent quicker. 

Long-time ANC leader Derek Hanekom wasn’t spared. Mtolo made mention of an apparent tweet by Hanekom, who, he said, criticised former president Jacob Zuma’s inclusion in the provincial ANC’s elections campaign.

He challenged Hanekom to mobilise 2 000 white Afrikaners to wear ANC T-shirts in order for the provincial ANC to take him seriously.