ANC forbids KZN councillors from taking luxury boat cruise
The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday stamped its authority by refusing to allow ANC councillors to be out of the country on voter registration weekend.
Forty eThekwini councillors were expected to go on a luxury boat cruise to the Portuguese Islands in Mozambique, at a cost of R160 000 during the weekend, as part of a maritime conference.
But ANC provincial secretary Super Zuma said the party would not allow any ANC councillors to go on the MSC Sinfonia boat cruise on one of the most important days of the political calendar.
“Yesterday we gave a clear instruction that there will not be a single councillor, member of parliament or leader, that will be out of the province. We will all be mobilising voters to go and vote at the weekend,” said Zuma.
Election co-ordinator dictates terms
He said when it came to the elections it was the provincial election team co-ordinator who dictated the terms, and all ANC employees who were expected to go on the trip would be redeployed.
“We want everyone to be on the ground this coming weekend… These are cadres deployed to the municipality, but they have been redeployed to do organisational work…”
eThekwini Mayor James Nxumalo said on Wednesday that reports that the city was funding the trip were false. He explained that a Durban Maritime Summit report was tabled before the economic development and planning committee on December 3, 2015.
In the report, support was sought for the city to host a maritime summit, which was held between February 24 and 26. This was approved, he said. He said a maritime conference on a cruise ship, to be held from March 4–7 2016, was linked to the summit.
He said the matter had not been approved by exco and therefore no councillors had registered to go.
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