Durban - eThekwini Municipality mayor Mxolisi Kaunda has called for the safe return of missing municipal manager from the Nkangala Local Municipality in Mpumalanga.
Addressing councillors during an executive committee meeting yesterday, Kaunda said the situation in Mpumalanga had touched him personally because he had met the municipal manager when she applied for the post of eThekwini municipal manager.
Margaret Skosana, the Nkangala municipal manager, and her driver Gugu Mtsweni were allegedly kidnapped outside the municipal buildings on October 20 by men impersonating police officers. To date there has been no trace of them.
“The situation that happened in Mpumalanga has touched me as I know the person involved, the municipal manager who was kidnapped with her bodyguard.”
The municipality recently completed a search to fill the position of municipal manager and interviewed many candidates.
DA councillor Thabani Mthethwa said in the initial interview process, Skosana was among the top three candidates recommended for the post and she was interviewed again when the process was started afresh.
After the kidnapping, Skosana’s vehicle was found abandoned at a mine. The municipal manager's wheelchair – she is disabled – and other items believed to belong to her and the driver were found in the vehicle.
It was reported this week that the alleged kidnappers had demanded a ransom of millions of rand.