Former KwaDukuza Mayor Lindi Nhaca may have been removed from the mayoral seat, but her privileges remain firmly intact and firmly funded by the ratepayer. Despite no longer holding the number one office, she continues to enjoy executive committee status, complete with rate payer-funded bodyguards and residential security. It’s a level of protection that raises eyebrows.
Her legacy as an ousted mayor, embarrassingly by her own political party, is hardly one to inspire such exceptionalism. Under her watch, key disaster response projects to the value of over R1,2 billion failed to deliver, still leaving communities vulnerable and accountability nowhere in sight.
Her track record offers little justification for continued VIP treatment, and her privileged position might have less to do with merit and more to do with her alleged long-standing patronage networks. It’s a dynamic that has defined KwaDukuza’s political undercurrents for years, and as the DA in KwaDukuza we will simply no longer turn a blind eye to this abuse of power.
We have today written to the Municipal Manager Nhlanhla Mdakane and Speaker of council, Councillor G Govender to request the following:
-What criteria justify continued personal protection for a former mayor?
-Who sanctioned these expenses?
-Why are ratepayers, many of whom face deteriorating services footing the bill?
It has now become glaringly obvious that in KwaDukuza, some politicians are simply more equal than others.