About 260 desperate employees of the cash-strapped Nongoma Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal started their festive season on a sad note after their December salaries were not paid on time. The struggling municipality also failed to pay its legion of councillors. Both the employees and the councillors were supposed to get their salaries on Friday, 20 December, but were left high and dry. The delay forced the council to hold a special sitting and later the workforce was told that their…

Prince Mbonisi Zulu, the nemesis of King Misuzulu Ka Zwelithini who was last week fired by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), is not taking the matter lying down. The senior Zulu prince, a half brother to the late King Goodwill Zwelithini, has unleashed his lawyers on the department to challenge the sacking. In a letter obtained by the African Times, addressed to the department led by MEC Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi, Prince Mbonisi’s lawyers denied that…

The chairperson of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in KwaZulu-Natal, Thami Ntuli, has downplayed the reported tensions between the MEC for CoGTA, Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi and the ANC in the government of provincial unity (GPU) and in the province. Ntuli, who is also the premier in the GPU, says it was always expected that there would be differences since they come from different political parties. The provincial IFP leader was responding to a question from the African Times during a…

The MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) in KwaZulu-Natal has finally intervened to stop the ongoing instability at Dannhauser, a local municipality in the north of the province run by a coalition of the ANC, EFF and the Community Freedom Party. Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi has since deployed Madoda Khathide, the deputy director general for the local government to go to the municipality and convene a special council sitting that will look into the vote of no confidence against…

A senior manager in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) has obtained a protection order against the spokesperson of the MK Party in the Uthukela region, Mncedisi Makuyi, an employee of the department. Mzwandile Hadebe first obtained an interim order from the Pietermaritzburg magistrate court on November 20, 2024. He later obtained a final one early this week. Radebe accused Makuyi of harassing and threatening him because he claims he got him fired from his plum…

The MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) in KwaZulu-Natal, Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi, has been temporarily stopped in his spirited bid to relocate the department’s traditional affairs division to Ulundi. The opening was billed for Thursday, 5 December 2024, but it was halted after Premier Thami Ntuli intervened. Ntuli said the halting would be until the government of provincial unity involving the IFP, ANC, DA and the National Freedom Party (NFP) is satisfied that all legal processes were followed. …

REINSTATED: KZN CoGTA Deputy Director for Fire and Rescue Services, Mncedisi Makuyi, has been reinstated to his lucrative government job. Photo: Facebook A government employee who alleged that he was dismissed by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) for his involvement in the Umkhonto Wesizwe Party (MKP) has been reinstated to his position. Mncedisi Makuyi, who served as Deputy Director for Fire and Rescue Services, was fired on May 15 this year following an internal disciplinary…

The MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) in KwaZulu-Natal, Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi has scored another legal victory against the executive of Nongoma Local Municipality. This is after the Pietermaritzburg High Court set aside the appointment of Nhlakanipho Zulu as the Municipal Manager (MM) for the municipality. The court also set aside the appointment of Mzwandile Dube as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in the same municipality. The application was brought by Buthelezi in September this year alleging that…