This move comes amidst political turmoil in the province with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) having suspended the membership of Premier Job Mokgoro and four others. The municipal spokesperson, Pius Batsile, says the former mayor was replaced by a fellow ANC councillor, Nthabiseng Shuping. Shuping replaced Buthelezi as councillor during a council sitting on 29 January 2021.

Buthelezi was removed last month during a motion of no confidence based on what council called "a lacklustre performance" and total failure to bring reports to the council about the appointment of a new financial management system, amongst others. He was then replaced immediately by Tsholofelo Moreo who the council chose to elect.

Batsile says the council is convinced that the process of not billing consumers has adversely affected the cash flow of the municipality and impacted on the funding of key service delivery programmes. “Therefore, the Council had agreed in unison that the entire Executive Committee be ousted, as it has failed dismally to play their oversight responsibilities pursuant to the legislation,” he adds. Buthelezi is one of the Troika members, which includes council speakers and chief whips in the province, who were instructed by the ANC’s Interim Provincial Committee (IPC) to step down.

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