MEC Sipho Hlomuka locked out of booked council chamber in Nquthu intervention row By Vernon Mchunu Share DURBAN - CO-OPERATIVE Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Sipho Hlomuka was forced to use an open parking area to announce the intervention into the Nquthu Municipality after he was locked out of a booked council chamber. The incident comes as the IFP slammed the intervention as a ploy by the ANC, in collusion with Cogta, to usurp political powers from the IFP-controlled municipality – an accusation that has since been rebutted by the two. Hlomuka said he was forced to use the parking area to address a handful of councillors following “the actions by some who locked the chamber which was booked to be the venue for the meeting”.