By Celani Sikhakhane
- The Pietermaritzburg council speaker was forced to leave a municipal house after an EFF investigation.
- The speaker was accused of not following the right process to rent a R5,500-per-month house meant for recreation.
The EFF has chased Pietermaritzburg’s council speaker from a municipal mansion after discovering she had been living there for three years.
The EFF wants the municipal speaker to resign her council position, saying she abused her power by unlawfully occupying municipal property.
uMsunduzi Municipality Speaker Eunice Majola has now left the property after the EFF accused her of jumping the queue and using her power to get the house.
KwaZulu-Natal EFF spokesperson Mazwi Blose said they found she took over the house without following proper channels.
“The house was for recreational purposes, but Majola used her political power to get the house and repurpose it into a family property. She stayed there with her family until the EFF launched its own investigation and conducted an oversight visit,” said Blose.
The EFF said they found animal skins in the house, showing Majola had even performed traditional rituals there.
The party learned from the municipal manager that Majola was paying R5,500 monthly rent.
Majola claims she rented the house legally because it was abandoned. She says she left because EFF threats made her children feel unsafe.
However, an investigation found that Majola broke Section 160 of the Constitution. The law says councillors, who are guardians of municipal property, cannot rent from the municipality.
The investigation report said there’s nothing in the Government Notice of June 2022 allowing councillors to rent municipal property.
Pictured above: Under fire the speaker of uMsunduzi local municipality Eunice Majola who left the municipal property on 50 Cleveland after pressure from the EFF.
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