An uThukela District Municipality official could face disciplinary action after a leaked voice note surfaced where he stated that the municipality should not deliver services to the wards under the ANC.
Opposition parties in the KwaZulu-Natal municipality have called on the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) to immediately take action against the official.
In the one-minute and 8 seconds clip, the man is heard calling on the IFP officials to punish ANC by not providing services to their wards. The man said when ANC was still in charge it did not provide services to the IFP areas so the IFP should punish them by doing the same.
“Leadership when the ANC was in charge did not provide services to us, therefore we must take revenge by doing the same.
“When they complain about services we must listen to them but do nothing,” the man is heard saying.
National People’s Assembly leader Nkosinathi Mthethwa said he knew the man and was currently employed as a Water and Sanitation official in the district so it was important that the IFP immediately suspend him.
Mthethwa said although the clip was an old one it has become relevant since the entire district was experiencing water problems.
The ANC also weighed in on the matter, saying it was taken aback by what the man had said.
Spokesperson Bheki Khanyile said that they had noticed numerous challenges faced by people in the ANC-led wards.
Khanyile added that the ANC never expected there were still people who felt services should be prioritised as per which party people voted.
“We have seen the poorest levels of service delivery since the IFP took power. For the first time (since) the ANC is not in power, our people go for weeks without access to water, sewer spillages all over including in the central business district. Our communities are not updated on issues pertaining to service delivery, access roads are not graded,” said Khanyile.
He added that his party did not know who the person on the clip was and called on the IFP to take action since the person claimed that he was on the party discussion group.
IFP regional chairperson Mbuzeleni Mkhize said the party was distancing himself from the clip and promised to investigate the matter. He said the IFP condemned the man adding that if he was a party member serious action would be taken against him.
“We condemn what is said by the man but for now we do not know whether he is our member or not. There is no ward where the IFP did not get votes so we do not understand how what the man is saying in the clip can be done,” said Mkhize.