Bongani Hans
A ZULULAND businesswoman who made headlines when she declared her affection for President Jacob Zuma has gone to court to stop the uMlalazi Local Municipality from removing an illegal fence she erected around her house.
The battle with the municipality started when Nomthandazo Mathaba-Mthembu extended the size of her yard in Sunnydale, Eshowe, in December.
The land she encroached on belonged to the municipality, which immediately wrote her a letter asking her to reduce her yard to its original size.
She ignored the request.
Municipal workers, escorted by police, tried to dismantle the fence last week, but Mathaba-Mthembu refused to allow them to take it down.
Mayor Thelumoya Zulu confirmed that the municipal workers had failed to remove the fence.
He said he had “heard rumours” that a gun had been drawn and the workers threatened.
“I still want to talk to the municipal manager to get clarity about these threats. Right now we are trying to establish if we need a court order to remove the fence,” said Zulu.
After the incident, Mathaba-Mthembu obtained a court interdict to stop the municipality from removing the fence.
“It was read to the exco members, and it was decided that the municipality should go to court to challenge the interdict,” a councillor said yesterday.
Interdict
In the interdict, Mathaba-Mthembu asked that the municipality give her a chance to move the fence back to its original position.
Council Speaker Nozipho Mtshali confirmed that the municipality had received the interdict.
Municipal manager Thembinkosi Mashabane said the interdict had been handed to the municipality’s lawyers.
“If you want a copy talk to (Mathaba-Mthembu) because she is the one who started all this. We warned her about encroaching, but she did not listen,” he said.
“This is going to be a problem when we want to work on water pipes or Eskom wants to work (on the illegally occupied land).”
Mashabane declined to comment on claims of a gun being pointed at municipal workers.
“When we realised things were going wrong, we decided to withdraw our workers.”
Asked for comment, Mathaba-Mthembu would say only that she had an interdict.
l Mathaba-Mthembu caused a scene last year when she arrived at the Zuma’s Nkandla homestead in a convoy, bearing gifts and with women singing courtship songs, apparently directed at Zuma. She was turned away.
