BULAWAYO mayor David Coltart says he was taken by surprise when his deputy, Edwin Ndlovu, made a u-turn and released a statement supporting a controversial bid to extend town clerk Christopher Dube’s contract by five more years.
Ndlovu released the statement after it emerged that opposition Coalition for Change (CCC) Bulawayo councillors have been threatened with recalls if they do not support the extension of Dube’s contract.
Chaos continues over the tenure extension of Dube' s contract, with new cracks emerging as Ndlovu condemned colleagues for exposing internal council matters to the public.
The developments follow media reports that Coltart had recently walked out of a council meeting in protest after councillors endorsed Dube’s tenure extension, a claim Coltart later dismissed.
Sources said self-styled CCC secretary general, Sengezo Tshabangu, who has been described as a Zanu PF proxy, has waded into the circus, directing city fathers to support the extension of Dube’s contract.
Harare based cartels and state security agents are reportedly also piling pressure on city fathers to endorse Due’s contract as they eye multi-million dollars in the city.
It is understood that Tshabangu on Sunday ordered Ndlovu to issue a statement criticising Coltart while supporting the extension of Due’s contract.
Ndlovu issued the statement on Monday.
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Coltart said he was amused by Ndlovu’s statement.
“He (Ndlovu) did not correct any of it (Coltart statement) when asked for comment,” Coltart told Southern Eye on Tuesday.
“Inexplicably over the weekend, he changed his mind and published a statement on Monday which bears little resemblance to the truth of what happened.”
In his statement, Ndlovu confirmed that the town clerk’s contract is indeed lapsing on November 30, 2025, and explained that in 2024, through the Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe, council was advised to align the town clerk’s contract with other government directors to five-year terms instead of four.
He indicated that on April 7, 2025, the city received correspondence from the central government supported by Statutory Instrument (SI) 197 of 2024, which changed the retirement age from 65 to 70 years.
The general purposes committee initially felt that SI 197 of 2024 might not apply to employees on fixed-term contracts and recommended seeking legal opinion, he said.
However, on October 27, 2025, the committee received a varied recommendation to extend Dube’s contract by one year to November 30, 2026.
When the report came before the full council on November 5, councillors varied the recommendations, resolving to extend the town clerk’s contract by one year until November 30, 2026, and then for a further four years until November 30, 2030.
Ndlovu stated that councillors argued the extension was not based on SI 197 of 2024, but rather their duty to extend contracts as long as the official is not above 70 years.
