Discussion on no-confidence motion against KSD mayor deferred to next meeting

UDM councillors in the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality will have to wait until the next special council meeting to try to convince fellow council members in their quest to have mayor Nyaniso Nelani removed from his position.

This comes after the main opposition party in KSD tabled a motion of no-confidence against Nelani during a special council meeting at the Nkululekweni council chambers on Wednesday.

However, the motion was moved for discussion to the local authority’s next special council meeting.

In its motion of no-confidence tabled to the council by the party’s chief whip at KSD, Raymond Knock, the UDM accused Nelani of incompetence in his duties.

These included failing to take council into confidence when he did not report the dire financial status of the municipality, failing to get concurrence from co-operative governance MEC Zolile Williams on the KSD’s reviewed organigram, the questionable salary of the municipality’s CFO, Nelani’s visit to China and claims that the mayor had used R200,000 of the municipal funds to attend an ANC event in Durban.

In March, the UDM also opened a case of fraud against Nelani after allegations that he used public funds to finance a trip to the ANC election campaign launch in February 2024.

A formal complaint was also lodged with the office of public protector Kholeka Gcaleka against the embattled mayor, with spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe confirming an investigation had been launched and that the investigations were still at a preliminary stage.

He said Gcaleka would only make her report public once all the investigations had been completed.

KSD municipal spokesperson Sonwabo Mampoza on Tuesday confirmed that a motion of no-confidence had been tabled by the UDM and that the matter had been deferred to the next special council sitting for discussion.

Knock, meanwhile, said a new chair to head an ad hoc committee set up to investigate the allegations had been appointed during Tuesday’s sitting.

The committee has been given until August 21 to investigate the allegations and to present a report to the council.

“We want it to come up with its own investigation and findings,” Knock said.

“We feel they deliberately delayed things as they were trying to shield the executive mayor from being probed.

“The ad hoc committee was set up as far back as 2024, but it never did any work until now.

“Our municipality is broke. In February, salaries were paid in bits and pieces — some got them the after day and the mayor did not warn the council of this.

“He has executive powers bestowed on him, but he still has to report to council.

“The people of KSD are struggling to pay their municipal rates bills but it is easier for him to [allegedly] take money from the municipality and go to his party’s political activities.”

Earlier in 2025, the KSD municipality revealed it was battling to pay service providers, including servicing its Eskom debt of more than R200m.

At the same time, the municipality was struggling to collect more than R1bn owed to it for rates and other municipal services by households, businesses and government departments.

KSD has also lost more than R200m through illegal electricity connections, meter tampering and the illegal sale of electricity by unknown vendors.

Daily Dispatch