Traffic cops backlash

Bela-Bela Residents Association (BRA) president Piet Mabusela has dug in his heels, saying he stood by what he said on Thobela FM with regards to the alleged questionable appointments of seven traffic officers in the town.

But mayoral spokesperson, Kabelo Mosito, poured a bucket of cold water over the allegations which continued to spread like wildfire, promising to dispatch a detailed statement in due course.

Mabusela spoke to The BEAT subsequent to the radio interview on the morning of Friday 11 January.

The Bra firebrand stood his ground, accusing the Bela-Bela Local Municipality of appointing seven trainee traffic officers without following due process.

“We cannot disclose their names at the moment, but the office of the spokesperson (Kabelo Mosito) can provide those names,” he said.

Mabusela said of the seven, four of them who initially did not make the grade, had been sent back to college by the municipality.

He said BRA viewed this as wasteful expenditure, because by taking care of the needs of those who failed, the municipality was on the wrong side of the law.

The BRA leader said the municipality continued to cut off residents’ electricity, but channelled resources to “wasteful expenditure”.

Social media was even more scathing, with users levelling damning allegations against the leadership of both the municipality and council.

The Bela-Bela sub-region of the SACP entered the fray, accusing Mabusela of being opportunistic, when the trainees had been at the college for a while.

SACP sub-region coordinator, Lolo Ramabusha, said in the statement the bigger picture was not to victimize the trainees.

He said what the SACP wanted to know was who paid for the trainees who went back for the supplementary examinations.

— The BEAT