A war of words has erupted between the notorious Nongoma Taxi Association and the Mayor of Zululand District Municipality (ZDM), Thulasizwe Buthelezi over a transport debt.
The association is claiming that Buthelezi hired nine taxis from them to ferry a group of Zulu regiments to the 144th commemoration of the historic battle site of Isandlwana and he now owes them R88,500 which he is refusing to pay.
That was in January when the Zulu nation celebrated defeating the mighty British imperial army on January 22, 1879.
NEWS: A war of words has erupted between the notorious Nongoma taxi association and the Mayor of Zululand district municipality (ZDM), Thulasizwe Buthelezi over a transport debt. The association is claiming that Buthelezi hired 9 taxis from them to ferry a group of Zulu regiments
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) August 4, 2023
According to Halala Ncwane of the association, Buthelezi called him and asked that he provide taxis to transport the regiments to the historic site in Nquuthu in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
Buthelezi allegedly entered the deal with Ncwane on behalf of the Zululand district municipality and he (Ncwane) was acting on behalf of the taxi association.
According to Ncwane, the first three taxis left three days before the event and transported the first batch of regiments.
The other six taxis left on the morning of the actual day of the celebration which was addressed by King Misuzulu Ka Zwelithini.
“The mayor called me as usual and said he needs taxis to ferry Zulu regiments to Isandlwana and we agreed. When I asked him how many taxis would be required, he told me to call Prince Vanana (Zulu of KwaMinyamanzi royal house) to get the finer details. Fortunately, the Prince was in Nongoma and we agreed to meet and iron out the fine details of it,” Ncwane said.
Ncwane said after the meeting with Prince Vanana it was agreed on how many taxis and how they will ferry the designated people.
“Three of those taxis were requested later and they were to transport members of the royal family to Isandlwana for the commemoration,” Ncwane added.
Ncwane said they had a verbal agreement with Buthelezi because they are used to doing business that way even if it involves the municipality.
“I then submitted my invoices to the municipality for payment. At some point, I was liaising with a lady by the name of Thobile Nkosi. She once asked me to correct something with the invoice and re-submit it and I duly did and she said my payment would be processed soon, I should be patient,” Ncwane alleged.
Ncwane said his headache started when Nkosi said she had been told to stop dealing with him.
“Since then I have been pushed around by Buthelezi who is refusing to pay, saying he knows nothing about us and our services. Things are tough for me because I was the one organising and my colleagues are not buying my story about Buthelezi’s refusal to pay us,” said Ncwane.
However, Buthelezi denied everything and said those who hired the taxis were not authorised by his municipality.
“ZDM had nothing to do with (the) Isandlwana event under Umzinyathi District. Those who hired the taxis were not authorized by ZDM MM (Municipal Manager),” Buthelezi said in his brief response.
Ncwane later produced evidence showing that he communicated directly with Buthelezi regarding the matter.
In one of their exchanges, Buthelezi passed the buck to Prince Vanana and a certain Nyandeni person who is not identified by his first name.
Efforts to locate Prince Vanana failed and his side of the story will be added as soon as he has been located.
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