Philani Mavundla is the mayor of Umvoti again
Image: Sandile Ndlovu
A new power-sharing deal between the ANC and ABC has relegated the IFP to opposition benches, paving a way back for former mayor Philani Mavundla to take the reins at the Umvoti local municipality in KwaZulu-Natal.
Mavundla previously held the mayoral position in the municipality as a member of the ANC between 2011 and 2013.
With just seven seats, Mavundla’s Abantu Batho Congress (ABC) also secured the speaker position with the election of Mfundo Masondo.
The ANC took deputy mayor and whip of council.
The municipality has been governed with an IFP-ABC-DA coalition since the 2021 local government elections after there was no outright winner.
In the 25-seat council, the IFP has nine seats, followed by the ANC which has eight, while kingmakers the ABC are third with seven seats. The DA only has one seat.
The eventual exchange of power can be traced back to the ousting of Mavundla as deputy mayor of eThekwini in February.
Shortly after his resignation, the ABC president emerged in Umvoti as a PR (proportional representative) councillor, filling a vacant seat left by his party’s councillor in February this year.
Mavundla’s ABC has now switched allegiances and works with the ANC.
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