DA in KZN threatens to revoke its support for IFP in uThukela

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in KwaZulu-Natal has threatened to revoke its support to the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in the hung uThukela District Municipality in the province’s Midlands region.

The DA has accused the IFP in the municipality of incurring wasteful expenditure.

The bone of contention is a contract awarded to a contractor to supply the municipality with rented water pumps.

DA leader in the province, Francois Rodgers says the municipality should have fixed its own pumps bought in 2018 instead of renting new ones.

“On our investigation in 2018, there was R45 million pump station installed and on inspection, that pump station was stripped. There is now a third party that has come to put new pumps. That was a project that was designed and paid for and should have had a 25-year lifespan. We now can’t find those pumps [that were] removed. We are getting no joy from the local municipality and obviously the IFP,” says Rodgers.

He says they have given given the IFP three days to respond.

“So, what we have done now [is that] I have given the IFP 72 hours to respond. If obviously they don’t come up and respond and we are not satisfied, then we need to consider our support in uThukela Municipality,” adds Rodgers.

Meanwhile, uThukela Mayor Inkosi Ntandoyenkosi Shabalala has denied that the pumps in question have disappeared and cannot be located.

He says the pumps were broken and the municipality had to get new pumps to ensure water supply, while the old ones are being repaired.

“According to the municipal manager, he did make his own investigation and he found those pumps; they are with uThukela. It’s only that they are broken. So, the new pumps were put in place. So, they are available and the municipal manager has responded to all the questions raised by the DA,” says Shabalala.

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