Pongola - A mayor of the IFP (Inkatha Freedom Party) in one of the municipalities in northern KwaZulu-Natal is bombarding her employer with sick notes amid calls for her to be sacked for alleged unbecoming conduct.
This also comes at a time when the Hawks have started probing her for alleged corruption and bribery.
Mavis Velephi Sikhosana has been away from work for more than three months now and IOL has learnt that she reported to the speaker of the municipality that she was not well.
NEWS: The Hawks have taken over the case of the IFP Mayor of Pongola, Mavis Sikhosana who is accused of corruption and bribery. The matter will now be heard by the Durban high court. Sikhosana is currently not at work, bombarding her municipality with sick notes. @IOL
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) January 17, 2023
However, her detractors claim that she is running away from her party which wants her to explain allegations that she took money (now sitting at R320 000) from a local businesswoman and promised her a tender in return.
The businesswoman, Qaphi Mafuleka, later took the matter to court where she is trying to claw back the money from Sikhosana.
Later, Mafuleka pressed a charge of intimidation after Sikhosana allegedly met her at Junk Mall in Pongola and threatened her with a beating and death.
Mafuleka told IOL that the intimidation charge is being investigated by the SAPS in Pongola.
She also said she has been advised that now that the Hawks has taken over the corruption and bribery case, it will be heard by the Durban High Court on a date yet to be announced.
“I have been advised by the SAPS that the docket is no longer with them, but with the Hawks at provincial level in Durban,” Mafuleka claimed.
Spokesperson of the Hawks in KwaZulu-Natal, Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo, asked to be given time to check the status of Sikhosana’s charges and never got back.
After the allegations against Sikhosana emerged, the IFP tried to call her to NEC meetings to explain herself, but she was nowhere to be found.
Late last month, the municipality announced that its deputy mayor Bhekinkosi Thwala would act in the position until further notice.
The spokesperson of the IFP, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, said Sikhosana is off sick and refused to entertain calls to recall her.
“The mayor of uPhongolo Local is indisposed and in her absence the deputy mayor must by law act as mayor to ensure functionality and continued provision of service delivery to the citizens of uPhongolo.
“We wish Mayor Sikhosana a speedy recovery,” Hlengwa told IOL.
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