Battle between SANCO and municipality in Eastern Cape town

SANCO supporters gathered outside the Engcobo Magistrates Court on Wednesday where three arrested protest leaders were expected to appear. Photo: Johnnie Isaac

• A two-day shutdown by SANCO in Engcobo, Eastern Cape ended on Tuesday with a standoff with police and the arrests of three protest leaders.
• Businesses say the repeated protests are causing them financial losses.
• SANCO says the President must respond to its demands within seven days.

Hundreds of people shut down Engcobo in the Eastern Cape on Monday and Tuesday in protests led by the South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO). Engcobo is about 80km west of Mthatha.

The protests ended on Tuesday afternoon after a stand-off with police. Protestors were dispersed with stun grenades and three organisers were arrested.

SANCO is calling for the removal of municipal manager Khathutshelo Mulaudzi and an investigation into AB Xuma Local Municipality’s finances. SANCO has made unproven allegations of nepotism and financial mismanagement against Mulaudzi, which Mulaudzi has denied.

SANCO is also blaming Mulaudzi for the poor service delivery and neglect of infrastructure, including rural roads, in the area.

They have also made allegations against Chris Hani District Municipality mayor Lusanda Sizani, for which Sizani is suing Thembinkosi Butshingi, SANCO’s chairperson for the area, for defamation.

This week’s protests follow another shutdown by SANCO protestors last week. Butshingi said on Wednesday that they are giving the President seven days to respond to their memorandum before considering further protest action.

“We appeal to President Ramaphosa to take us seriously. We are not simply disgruntled citizens; we are suffering because of poor service delivery in this municipality,” he said.

SANCO supporters gathered outside the Ngcobo Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday as the three arrested men were expected to appear in court.

Two of the men – Xolani Ngesi and Dumisani Matyholo – were released without appearing in court. But a third man, Thembile Nogemana, did appear in court and was charged with inciting public violence. He was released on R500 bail.

Local businesses, forced to close during the protests, said that they have incurred financial losses. They were intimidated by protest leaders to remain closed.

“We lose a lot of money when we are forced to close during protests,” said a businessman who asked to remain anonymous. “We still have to pay staff, even when they can’t work. We get conflicting messages. Municipal officials tell us to open, but protesters intimidate our employees to join the shutdown. We’re caught in the middle of a battle between the municipality and its citizens.”

Dr AB Xuma Municipality spokesperson Sivuyile Myeko said Mayor Siyabulela Zangqa had reiterated that municipal offices remain open.

He said that Zangqa has met with taxi drivers, government officials, political leaders and businesses to restore stability.

“These discussions led to a firm agreement that service delivery must continue, and businesses must operate without fear or disruption,” said Myeko.

He encouraged businesses to report any acts of intimidation to law enforcement or municipal authorities.

No evidence of serious mismanagement

Although the municipality is struggling to keep up with degrading infrastructure, especially of rural gravel roads, there is no evidence that its finances are being mismanaged.

The AB Xuma Local Municipality’s financial statements for the 2024/25 have not yet been audited. But in 2023/24, the municipality received an unqualified audit opinion, meaning there were no material misstatements. Although the Auditor General did raise concerns that there were mistakes that had to be corrected during the audit process.

The municipality also spent all of the conditional grants it received from the national and provincial governments in 2023/24 and did not have to return any funds to Treasury. All conditions for spending were met, according to the audited statements. Irregular expenditure for the year amounted to R1.3-million, relating to the ending of contracts.

The allegations against Mulaudzi are also not proven. The provincial department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs had previously probed Mulaudzi’s appointment to Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality as chief financial officer, but the results of this investigation were not made public.

Mulaudzi was appointed as municipal manager at AB Xuma Local Municipality in August 2022.

GroundUp has asked SANCO for evidence of financial mismanagement and nepotism. We have received the names of officials allegedly related to Mulaudzi. We are yet to verify these allegations.

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