SANDLANE SURVIVES ANOTHER VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE

MATSAPHA – Once again, a bid by some Matsapha Town Council councillors to oust mayor Sandlane Zwane, has bitten the dust.

After failing twice to pass a vote of no confidence against the mayor, a new motion was supposed to be moved by Councillor Bongani Mamba yesterday at 9am, but he did not get the chance to do so as the meeting did not take place. This is despite the fact that all the councillors, except Councillor Nkhanyeti Ngwenya, who is now a Member of Parliament (MP), were in the council chambers by 9am yesterday.

Orders

When the mayor was supposed to open the meeting, he asked to make an observation and said he had obtained general orders from the army, after having a meeting with the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) Commander Sobantu Dlamini earlier in the day. He said according to the general orders, Councillor Mfanufikile Dlamini was supposed to furnish council with a letter from the army, which allows him to participate in politics. “I cannot open the meeting if there is a councillor who is going to participate in it illegally because that will render it unlawful,” he said. On that note, the mayor said he would allow the councillor in question to go to his employer to get that letter. It is worth noting that Councillor Dlamini was a seconder of the motion together with Councillor Musa Ndzimandze. He said the information he got from the army was that a military officer’s loyalty only lies with the organisation and was not supposed to be linked or work for any other entity.

He said even the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Prince Simelane, who was a senior military officer, humbled himself and returned his uniform to the army immediately after he was appointed by the King. The mayor said once the councillor excuses them, he would them officially open the meeting and the agenda of the day would be followed. He argued that the country’s national security should not be at stake because of Matsapha Town Council. Zwane argued that if council could carry on with its business without the councillor obtaining the required letter from the army, he could be tempted to divulge the military’s secrets to councillors, something which would put the security of the kingdom at stake.

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