Amajuba District Municipality Mayor Cllr Vuselwa Bam has officially been removed from her position, a title she only held for a year.
Cllr Bam was inaugurated as the District Mayor on 30 November 2021, after the IFP and its coalition parties seized power from the ANC.
According to an IFP source, the decision to recall the District Mayor was made earlier this week. “When a councillor is recalled, they are usually deployed elsewhere,” the source said.
While claiming the decision was not personal, the source explained that politicians are normally recalled when they were not fulfilling their mandate to the fullest.
“Cllr Bam has not been well for a while and she has also been under a lot of strain, which has not helped with her health issues,” the source added.
If you can recall, recently, the Amajuba District Municipality came under intense scrutiny from the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (KZN COGTA). This followed KZN COGTA stating that was looking into the District Municipality, following serious allegations made against Cllr Bam’s son.
Allegedly, Cllr Bam’s son hand-picked a company for an R46 million tender to build a wastewater treatment plant in Utrecht, KwaZulu-Natal.
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Furthermore, KZN COGTA MEC Sihle Zikalala announced that his department was concerned with the developments within the Amajuba District Municipality, following the entity continuing to run without a Municipal Manager. This was while jointly having a Chief Financial Officer in breach of the Municipal Systems Act.
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With Cllr Bam now stepping down as District Mayor, the Amajuba District Municipality’s Chief Whip Cllr Andile Nkosi said that on behalf of the District Municipality and Team Sugar South Africa, he wished her all the best with her future political endeavours.
Looking at who would be replacing the District Mayor, Cllr Nkosi said, “The Municipality will be holding a caucus for the new mayor. At the moment, we are currently waiting for the IFP to select their nomination.”
The IFP was contacted for official comment, but none could be provided at the time of publication.
With the District Municipality now facing a new challenge, what are your thoughts on the above-mentioned?
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Photo credit: Honorable Mayor of Amajuba District Municipality Cllr V.V. Bam Facebook page
