EFF Deputy President Floyd Shivambu met party leaders in eThekwini as well as ANC Speaker Nyawose. In his Facebook post, Shivambu said he had also met with Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda.

• The ANC and the EFF’s eThekwini coalition relations sunk to a serious low last week. 
• Finger-pointing ensued between the two parties over who was responsible for failing to spend R1.9 billion on time. 
• However, it seems, after a meeting between eThekwini Speaker Thabani Nyawose and EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu, the coalition marriage is back on strong terms. 

Tensions in the ANC and EFF eThekwini coalition appear to have cooled down after EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu met with eThekwini Speaker Thabani Nyawose and visited City assets that are controlled by EFF’s political leadership on Wednesday.

This, as the National Treasury, on the same day, made an about-turn over the threat of recalling a R1.6 billion grant meant to assist the eThekwini metro’s post-floods recovery process.

Shivambu visited and posted on his social media infrastructure sites, which fall under the human settlements and infrastructure portfolio, chaired by EFF councillor Bhekithemba Mvubu.

He also met with ANC Speaker Thabani Nyawose in a meeting that included a water and sanitation senior manager and another official.

Shivambu’s visit comes against the backdrop of high tension between the two parties in the aftermath of the EFF councillors’ clash with council security personnel last week.

A day after the uncouth scenes, Nyawose told News24 there are no two ways about charging the EFF councillors.

But after the meeting between him and Shivambu, EFF councillors were noticeably quieter during Thursday’s council proceedings.  

And neither the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal nor the provincial EFF were willing to talk about the reconciliation when News24 contacted their leaders on Thursday. 

Last week, after the incident in council, ANC provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo fired the first salvo at the EFF in eThekwini and its national leadership. 

Mtolo went as far as to say the EFF was in charge of the eThekwini metro on the basis that it controls a R43.7 billion budget. 

He also insinuated that the EFF is in bed with the DA as they have the same funders. 

The EFF hit back, threatening to sue Mtolo if he didn’t issue a public apology that the party had the same funders as the DA.

Nyawose, who was in a council meeting for most of Thursday, read but didn’t respond to WhatsApp messages. Nor did Shivambu. 

ActionSA’s Zwakele Mncwango said he found it “strange” that the EFF’s tone had suddenly changed as were largely “quiet” on Thursday in council. 

Mncwango said: 

Meanwhile, Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda announced in council that the Treasury had approved the rollover of the floods’ recovery grant of R1.6 billion, meaning that the City will no longer be forfeiting the money. 

READ | Flood relief: Communities want infrastructure fixed. The money is there. Use it – ANC KZN chair

Treasury intergovernmental relations deputy director-general Malijeng Ngqaleni wrote to City manager Musa Mbhele, informing him of the decision to consider the rollover of the R814 million municipal disaster recovery grant; R8.9 million programme and project preparation support grant; and the R32.9 million neighbourhood development partnership. 

Ngqaleni gave approval that the municipality is “to retain a lesser amount of R1.6 billion” from the requested R1.9 billion. 

The money is to be used mostly on housing, coastal and stormwater projects, water and sanitation projects, among others, which mostly fall under the EFF.

The ANC took exception to DA councillor Mzamo Billy’s insinuating that the mayor was beating his chest over the roll-over approval. 

ANC councillor Nkosenhle Madlala said the ANC is vindicated because it had argued the matter was not finalised. 

Madlala said:

In a statement on Thursday afternoon, the EFF in KwaZulu-Natal welcomed the roll-over approval by Treasury. The party said it “still lead[s] the charge in the struggle to restore” the people’s dignity. “We will not back down from our struggle for justice and holding those in authority accountable, no matter how much intimidation and bullying we receive from security personnel and police officers who forcibly remove us from council for standing up for our people,” the EFF said.

The EFF warned eThekwini officials to make sure they spend unconditional grants on time. 

Who paid for the ANCWL conference?

Meanwhile, Nyawose withheld the much-anticipated investigative report on whether the eThekwini metro paid for an ANC Women’s League event. 

He swatted away opposition parties’ request for the tabling and discussion of the City Integrity and Investigation Unit (CIIU) investigation report into whether the City footed the bill for the ANCWL’s elective conference, which took place in August. 

The CIIU submitted the report this week to Mbhele after Mncwango filed a complaint. 

Mncwango said: “It’s really strange that when I came with this allegation, they were saying I’m lying, and there was no MOU [for the use of the Durban ICC, which would’ve been ostensibly used for a women’s event but allegedly covered an ANCWL elective conference].”

“When I asked for an investigation, they said it will prove that Mncwango is lying. Very interestingly, the Speaker, in response to my question, said it can’t be handed over because it involves the deputy city manager. Why can’t they make the record public?” asked Mncwango.