Suspended Impendle Mayor and Speaker Continue Duties Amid ANC Disciplinary Action

• Suspended Impendle Mayor Kho Dlamini and Speaker Zibuse Dlamini continue to perform their duties despite the ANC's disciplinary action
• The ANC suspended the councillors for defying the party's directive during a contentious council sitting on 6 February 2026
• Attempts to install a new mayor for Impendle municipality remained unsuccessful amid ongoing internal disputes and resistance

Justin Williams, a journalist at Briefly News since 2024, covers South Africa’s current affairs. Before joining Briefly News, he served as a writer and chief editor at Right for Education Africa’s South African chapter.

KWAZULU-NATAL,IMPENDLE - Suspended Impendle Local Municipality Mayor Kho Dlamini and Speaker Zibuse Dlamini are continuing to perform their official duties, despite disciplinary action taken against them two weeks ago by the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal.

Suspended by provincial leadership for bringing party into disrepute

According to Daily News, the two, along with two other councillors, were suspended by the provincial leadership for bringing the party into disrepute after defying its directive during a council sitting on 6 February 2026. On that day, the council was expected to elect Nokulunga Ndlovu as mayor, the ANC's preferred candidate. Instead, councillors voted for Kho Dlamini as mayor and Zibuse Dlamini as Speaker, in full view of provincial leaders observing proceedings. The outcome prompted the ANC to announce their immediate suspension.

Read also

ANC vs Sipho Radebe: Emufuleni Mayor stays put despite calls to resign

However, the councillors have continued working. Speaking from his office on Monday, chief whip Thabani Makhaye, who was also elected during the disputed sitting, said it was business as usual. He maintained that none of them had been formally served with suspension letters and that they only learned of the decision through media reports. He said he was at work performing his duties and insisted they had not received official communication from the party confirming their suspension.

ANC Moses Mabhida regional coordinator Zet Luzipo said the councillors were served through accepted communication channels but chose to defy the decision. He said the ANC regards them as suspended and that if they continue working, they do so in their personal capacities and not on behalf of the party. The 10-seat ANC-run municipality outside Pietermaritzburg has been without a mayor since July last year, when former mayor Buyisani Mlaba was removed through a vote of no confidence initiated by the EFF and supported by ANC councillors, with Mlaba abstaining.

Read also

National Assembly grants extension to Ad Hoc Committee, hearings to continue until 31 March 2026

Attempts to install a new mayor have failed

Since then, repeated attempts by the provincial leadership to install a new mayor have failed. The ANC reportedly sought to introduce a candidate from outside the council, but councillors resisted, demanding that the mayor be chosen from within their ranks. The impasse persisted because all ANC councillors, except former Speaker Sizwe Ndlela, were ward councillors. To accommodate an external candidate, Ndlela would have needed to resign.

Ndlela eventually stepped down, clearing the way for Ndlovu to be sworn in as a councillor and positioned for election as mayor. However, councillors declined to vote for her, leaving her as an ordinary council member. Despite the internal party dispute, the KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Department, led by MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi of the IFP, has recognised the election of Kho Dlamini and Zibuse Dlamini as valid.

ANC Gauteng moves to remove Emfuleni mayor Sipho Radebe

Read also

ANC Gauteng moves to remove Emfuleni mayor Sipho Radebe amid party discipline concerns

Briefly News also reported that the ANC in Gauteng has moved to remove Sipho Radebe as Emfuleni mayor, prioritising party discipline over internal dissent.

Radebe disputed claims of financial mismanagement, attributing ongoing issues to inherited challenges since 2021.

Source: Briefly News