Durban – eThekwini Mayor James Nxumalo will complete his
term, council speaker Logie Naidoo said on Wednesday.
Speculation was rife on Wednesday that Nxumalo had resigned,
but Naidoo quashed the rumours, saying he had not received a resignation letter
from the mayor.
He said Nxumalo's emotional budget speech, which he
delivered at the Durban City Hall on Tuesday, could have been interpreted as
his resignation.
Naidoo said Nxumalo was, however, merely reflecting on his
term as mayor.
Nxumalo reportedly bid his councillors farewell and thanked
the council for their hard work and commitment.
He advised councillors to use their term to help communities
and to remember that their position was a deployment.
Fierce battle for position
"The mayor said he would complete his term and, in any
case, mayors are chosen by the National Executive Committee and the president
in terms of metros. There is no cabal that sits in Umhlanga and decides who the
next mayor will be."
Naidoo said it was an emotional time when a term ends.
"Even the deputy mayor, Nomvuzo Shabalala, was reflecting on her 20
years," said Naidoo.
Nxumalo has been in a fierce battle with ANC regional
chairperson Zandile Gumede, who was tipped to take over as eThekwini mayor
after the local government elections.
In February last year, Nxumalo won the position of regional
chairperson, but the outcome was nullified later that month. A rerun of
the conference was abandoned in May.
After several postponements, the conference finally sat in
December, where Gumede emerged as the regional chairperson.
No sense
ANC's provincial spokesperson Mdumiseni Ntuli said the ANC
had not received Nxumalo's resignation. "It might be a hoax, we don't have
that information," said Ntuli.
A senior government official, who asked not to be named,
said Nxumalo was only bidding council farewell. "There is no need to
resign with two months left, it does not make sense. It is definitely not
true."
A source at the municipality said Nxumalo had accepted that
he would not be returning as mayor after the August 3 local government
elections.
"Maybe, if the regional conference happened earlier,
then he could have been forced to resign like Senzo Mchunu, but the conference
happened too late."
