Mayor faces backlash from Umkhanyakude Youth League over arrogance and funding issues

The newly-elected ANC Youth League regional leadership in Umkhanyakude, north-east of KwaZulu-Natal, has accused the district Mayor Simphile Mdaka of arrogance and refusing to recognise them as the new leadership of the youth league.

Since it was elected in March, the youth league said it has been trying to set up a meeting with Mdaka, who is also the ANC regional chairperson, however, the mayor has been ignoring them.

The league’s regional secretary, Makhosonke Maphanga, said the league is disappointed at the mayor’s conduct, accusing him of behaving like an opposition while he is a leader of the ANC.

Maphanga said that as the regional secretary, he has sent several letters to the mayor and the municipality leadership requesting a meeting, but to date, the league’s pleas have been ignored.

He said the only time the mayor responded to them was when he asked them to meet him at the funeral of a car accident victims, saying to show respect, the youth league chairperson attended, despite not understanding the nature of a meeting at a funeral.

He said after the funeral, the mayor got in his car and left without talking to the youth league chairperson.

Maphanga said the league wanted to raise several issues affecting young people in the region, including the municipality’s shocking decision to allocate R50,000 to the youth programmes in his office in the current financial year.

“Since 2021, the young people have been complaining about the lack of funding for youth programmes under the mayor’s leadership because of a poorly funded youth office, which has been allocated only R50,000. It is absurd that any right-thinking mayor can expect that R50,000 will champion youth development for five years. Which municipalities have done this? This is clear sabotage of youth development by an ANC mayor,” said Maphanga.

He said the youth have identified tourism and agriculture as the sectors where they can find job opportunities. In their meeting with the mayor, they wanted to ask for money to organise training for the youth as waiters and waitresses in hotels and particularly in the Mfolozi/Hluhluwe Game Reserve, which is the second biggest game reserve in the country.

“As disciplined members of the ANC, we have followed all the necessary protocols to raise the issues internally, however, we have been ignored. Now we do not know what to do, but we are hoping the provincial leadership of the ANC will rein in this arrogant mayor,” said Maphanga.

Mayor Mdaka did not respond to the questions sent to him on Wednesday; however, the ANC provincial spokesperson, Fanle Sibisi, urged the youth league to utilise internal platforms.

willem.phungula@inl.co.za