Mayor of the Umzimvubu Local Municipality Councillor (Cllr) Sobane Mnukwa ‘s name is being dragged to another Municipal Vehicle crash. According to reports a Municipal Vehicle allocated to the Mayor Mnukwa was seen crushed near Harding in KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday night. It is reported that the white Toyota Fortuner which is the Municipal Vehicle was coming from the Durban side to Eastern Cape when it plunged into a Polo Vivo that was on its way to Durban. According to reports, the driver of the Polo Vivo was taken to a nearby hospital after sustaining injuries.
At the moment it is still not clear whether Cllr Mnukwa was driving the car or not. The Informer got reports from different people within the municipality who said the Mayor was indeed driving the vehicle an act forbidden, according to the municipality policies. However, those close to him, said the Mayor refuted the allegations, instead Mnukwa claims that he had sent his driver to designated driver to KZN to check up on his children who are KZN dwellers.
Cllr Mnukwa’s driver Zibula Mngenela said he was not ready to speak about the matter and requested us to phone in another time. When we called at a later stage there was a network challenge. Meanwhile Municipal Manager Tobela Nota confirmed the incident but said there is no official report yet they are still investigating the matter. On the other hand ANC Chief Whip Ndanele Mdzinwa said they are still gathering information about the matter.
“Our Traffic Officers were called to an incident at night. They are still there. We are also trying to establish who was driving then we will be able to give a proper report. But the question for now is what was the municipal vehicle doing in KZN on a weekend.”
Cllr Mnukwa is still facing disciplinary hearing for crushing a municipal vehicle in April last year during the Covid 19 lockdown level 5. That incident happened between Qumbu and KwaBaca and unconfirmed reports say a passenger died in that incident. There was a time where ANC took a resolution to suspend Mnukwa as a Mayor of Umzimvubu for three month. He resumed the position in January this year.
Attempts to get a response from Cllr Mnukwa failed as his phone was off at the time of publishing this article.