By Celani Sikhakhane
- The Nongoma speaker called a council meeting from a prison cell while waiting for her bail hearing.
- The municipality faces a leadership crisis after the arrest of three top officials and the removal of senior managers.
The Speaker of Nongoma municipality called a council meeting from behind bars.
Babongile Sithole sent out a memo on Thursday asking councillors to meet at a local lodge in Nongoma on Friday at 2 pm.
Councillors were surprised at how she could arrange a meeting and change its venue while locked up in eShowe Prison, awaiting her bail hearing on the same day.
Scrolla.Africa has seen the memo Sithole sent out.
Police arrested Sithole, who is from the ANC, along with NFP Mayor Clifford Ndabandaba and EFF Deputy Mayor Sabelo Nkosi. The arrests happened during a council meeting in front of shocked members of the public and other councillors.
They face corruption charges and were taken to Durban Police Station.
A source close to the matter said Sithole called the meeting because she feared what might happen if she didn’t.
“They were worried that if they didn’t call the council meeting for 2 pm, the last meeting planned for the council chamber would have led to them being kicked out while they weren’t there. The court might grant them bail but tell them to stay away from the municipality. That’s why she quickly changed the venue to Nongoma Lodge,” the source said.
Their political parties came to support them and their families.
The municipality is now in crisis. It has no chief financial officer or municipal manager after the Pietermaritzburg High Court removed them on the same day the political leaders were arrested.
Pictured above: Nongoma Local Municipality Speaker Babongile Sithole surprised many when she called a council meeting to take place on Friday while she is still in prison.
Source: Supplied
