Canaan Mdletshe

Vusi Mdletshe, the former assistant manager of public relations at the embattled Umzinyathi district municipality in Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal, has been reinstated to his position.

The executive council took the decision to reinstate Mdletshe, 31, last week after he was suspended for about seven months. He was suspended last year by the municipal manager, Otto Kunene, "for failing to draft a funeral programme for the late Nquthu deputy mayor, Jerome Zulu".

But Mdletshe insisted he was suspended for not having attended Zulu's funeral.

District mayor Mbangiseni Yengwa said they decided to reinstate Mdletshe because there were "irregularities" regarding his suspension.

"It was wrong for him to be suspended in the first place," said Yengwa.

"When we looked into the matter, it became clear that the procedures were not properly followed," said Yengwa.

Kunene himself is currently on suspension pending further investigations after a female municipal official laid a charge of attempted rape against him last month.