Sandile Mnikathi will be the Deputy Mayor of the only Democratic Alliance-led municipality in KwaZulu-Natal. The party made history when it won the uMngeni Municipality, better known as the Howick Municipality, in last week’s Local Government Elections.
DA provincial leader Francios Rodgers says their elected leaders will turn things around by fast-tracking service delivery in the area. The 26-year-old will serve under mayor-elect Chris Pappas.
He has only been in politics for seven years, he joined the DA’s student wing at the University of KwaZulu- Natal in 2014. But the DA’s leader in KwaZulu-Natal Francois Rodgers says Mnikathi has a proven track record within their party, having won ward 3 of the uMngeni Municipality from the ANC. As incoming Deputy Mayor, Mnikathi says their top priority is to ensure the municipality is financially stable.
“I thank the Democratic Alliance for the faith shown in young people. We have shown that we are a party that is serious about young people. We don’t just put them in political positions, we also put them where they can make tangible changes to people’s lives. I look forward to working with Chris, we have worked together throughout the campaign, we work quite well, we worked closely. The first thing that is in our priority is to ensure that uMngeni once again becomes the financially sustainable municipality so that we are able to deliver services to every corner of uMngeni Municipality. We look forward to becoming a transparent and open government.”
DA’s reaction following news that the party won the municipality:
Mass resignation allegations
uMngeni Municipal Mayor-Elect, Chris Pappas has dismissed allegations of mass resignations at the municipality in the KZN Midlands.
“The thirty resignations I’ve checked with the officials obviously we did not want to come in there and cause havoc, it is just rumours. There is a couple of infographics doing the rounds I suspect there is either staff that either is nervous or got something to hide or otherwise the ANC in the region being sour losers but definitely not, tourism and agriculture are two big main stakes for our economy, we invest heavily in both.”
DA Provincial Leader Francois Rodgers says they have confidence in Papas and Mnikathi.
“It is really an exciting time for us, for the very first time in history of the DA we now govern outright the municipality in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Now, the important thing for us to do is to put together a team of leaders in that municipality who are in fact going to effect the changes that we need those changes are quite simple. We need to ensure that we develop or build a corrupt-free municipality and the municipality that focuses on the residents of uMngeni and changes the lives of the residents of uMngeni.”
The DA in KwaZulu-Natal has not yet entered into coalition agreements in the 21 hung municipalities in the province. KwaZulu-Natal has the most hung councils in the country.
They include uMsunduzi, uMhlathuze, Newcastle, Nongoma, and the eThekwini Municipality. Rogers says they are hard at work behind the scenes preparing Papas and Mnikathi to lead the uMngeni Municipality, which they won with an outright majority.
