Africa-Press – South-Africa. The DA has ripped into Durban mayor Mxolisi Kaunda, accusing him of showing Parliament the middle finger after he sent municipal officials to meet with the ad hoc committee on the flood disaster over the weekend instead of joining himself.
Kaunda hit back at the opposition, saying they were playing cheap politics as he was attending national government meetings and could not make the committee meeting.
“The DA is not surprised by the middle finger given to Parliament’s ad hoc committee on the flood disaster by eThekwini mayor, Mxolisi Kaunda. The mayor was scheduled to meet with the committee in Tongaat on Saturday, but instead sent officials to meet with Members of Parliament. We were advised that the mayor was in Gauteng for some unknown reason,” the DA’s Dean Macpherson said.
He added that Kaunda was then scheduled to appear at a press conference the very next day – on Sunday – with “various ministers and the premier of KwaZulu-Natal” but also failed to attend that.
eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda accused of manipulating exco for majority vote
“His snub towards the committee can only be viewed as a direct refusal to meet with the MPs. It is a well-known fact that the largest loss of life and damage experienced in KZN as a result of the floods was in eThekwini. Therefore, the mayor’s refusal to meet with the committee defies logic.”
Macpherson further labelled Kaunda a “missing mayor”.
He added:
Kaunda faced an avalanche of criticism for being missing in action during the July unrest, together with other top tier KwaZulu-Natal officials.
He was also not seen during the Tongaat protests a month after the April flooding, which saw deputy mayor Philani Mavundla stepping in and tending to the water starved community.
Kaunda had since testified at the SA Human Rights Commission that he was in isolation with Covid-19 when the July unrest hit the city.
“His lacklustre leadership is hampering the recovery efforts in his city, and his no-show before the ad hoc committee does also not assist the residents of eThekwini and the DA will not accept his feeble excuses,” Macpherson said.
Mayoral spokesperson Mluleki Mntungwa told News24 that Kaunda was invited to appear before the Presidential Climate Change Commission “to provide update and interventions on the disaster that affected the city”.
Kaunda also had to attend the Customary Land Tenure and Administration Summit convened by Minister Thoko Didiza, he said.
“The DA has made it its habit to score cheap political points from this unfortunate situation. We have cautioned them that it is against the principles of Ubuntu to use this disaster that has resulted in loss of lives to gain political mileage,” he added.
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
