Pappas cancels uMngeni sports event, fears residents' safety
uMngeni Municipality has cancelled its planned community sports event on Saturday following ongoing tussle between itself and KZN Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube.
Tensions between the two were sparked by the use of the Mpophomeni Stadium in Umngeni.
The Premier's Office earmarked the venue to hold a provincial Imbizo taking place on Saturday.
Both parties had planned their events at the same venue on the same day.
After being at loggerheads this week, Mayor Chris Pappas has called off the event fearing for the safety of the community.
"The uMngeni Municipality hereby announces the cancellation of a community sports event planned for the 15th of July at the Mpophomeni Stadium. Due to the unauthorized occupation and use of the facility after a breaking and entering incident yesterday, the Municipality is concerned for the safety of sports fans and the community," said Pappas.
Earlier in the week Dube-Ncube issued a statement assuring that the event will go ahead as planned.
"As we go to the Imbizo this weekend, our fellow citizens are waiting desperately and deserve to be updated on government programmes and progress in addressing the triple challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality. Nothing will distract us. We again wish to use this platform to assure the people of KwaZulu-Natal that the provincial government Imbizo will continue in Mpophomeni on 15 July 2023 as planned," Dube-Ncube said.
