The forensic investigation commissioned by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) into allegations of brazen looting and corruption during the replacement of water pumps at Zakheni water station in Ladysmith has been concluded. As a result, CoGTA MEC, Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi has instructed the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) led Uthukela District Municipality to take “corrective” measures as outlined in the report into the 2023 procurement process. The investigation was initiated after the DA, a coalition partner…

The Umngeni-Uthukela Water (UUW) Board, the bulk supplier of water in most parts of KwaZulu-Natal, claims that the King Cetshwayo District Municipality owes R1.1 Billion in unpaid water fees. The water board claims that the last time the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) led district municipality made a payment was in January 2023. The King Cetshwayo District Municipality (KCDM) is anchored in Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal. It is made up of the City of Umhlathuze, Mthonjaneni, Umfolozi, Nkandla and Umlalazi municipalities. …

One of the councillors who shot to prominence by speaking out against corruption in the ANC-run Mandeni Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal is fighting for his life in hospital after being shot.  According to an internal Mandeni SAPS incident report note, Siphephelo Mathonsi was fired at in the early hours of Sunday, March 9, by unknown gunmen in the Nembe area. The incident happened around 1:20 am. Mathonsi was rushed to the General Gizenga hospital in Stanger, where he is said…

In yet another shake up in municipalities that are beset by service delivery and water challenges, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) has sacked the embattled mayor of Umzinyathi District Municipality. Alderman Petros Ngubane was fired following a meeting about the challenges in his municipalities. His position would be taken over by his deputy, Thembisile Mchunu, whose position would be filled at a later stage.  “On Sunday, 02 March 2025 the IFP Top 7 Officials held a special meeting with the…

The eThekwini Metro in KwaZulu-Natal, run by a coalition comprising the African National Congress (ANC), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), is on the verge of losing more than R800 million in transport and township infrastructure grants due to failure to spend the money.  On February 14, the National Treasury wrote to City Manager Musa Mbhele asked him to motivate why a portion of the R3.2 billion grants – totalling R880 million – should not be…

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) has become the latest political party to join the fight to save the historic Ithala Bank from being liquidated by the Prudential Authority (PA), the division of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) that oversees banks in the country. Today, February 24, the party organised a march in central Durban and later delivered a memorandum with six demands to the SARB branch in the city centre.  The protest march was led by party President and…

Government departments, households and businesses owed the financially distressed Endumeni Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal over R200 million as of December 2024, when the second quarter of the 2024/2025 financial year ended. The state of its finances is contained in a report compiled by the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) led municipality’s finance department where it was appraising the council. The municipality, which is battling to pay its creditors, is anchored in the coal mining town of Dundee in the northern part…

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) has finally acted and fired the allegedly “underperforming” Mayor of Amajuba District Municipality, which is anchored in Newcastle in northern KwaZulu-Natal. Prince Ndabuko Zulu was shown the door on Thursday, 18 December 2024 after he met with the party’s national executive committee (NEC). The prince took over the position in December 2022 after the IFP fired the former mayor, Vuselwa Bam, who later defected and joined Team Sugar South Africa. “The IFP NEC today met…

The sole but critical councillor of the ABC (Abantu Batho Congress) in the Endumeni (Dundee) local municipality in KwaZulu-Natal has scored a temporary victory against his expulsion from the party and as a councillor. The Pietermaritzburg High Court today ruled that Mbulelo Phakathi cannot be expelled from the party and as a councillor in eNdumeni until the matter has been fully heard. Phakathi’s seat in Endumeni is crucial to the ANC, which still harbours ambitions of overthrowing the IFP through…

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…