Mookgophong-Modimolle Local Council on the brink

Service delivery under the jurisdiction of the Modimolle-Mookgophong Local Municipality – against the backdrop of severe water shortages in some parts – was set to be affected badly by
unfolding contestation between political parties.

The Limpopo provincial government has thrown the cat among the pigeons, giving the council seven working days, with effect from Monday 19 November, to respond as to why the DA-led council
should not be dissolved.

At the centre of the contestation is the recent motion of confidence against the council, supported by both the ANC and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

Mayor Marlene van Staden has confirmed receipt of a letter from the Limpopo Provincial Executive Council, giving council seven working days to respond.

“Despite reports (to the contrary), the Modimolle-Mookgophong municipal council has not been dissolved and is still constituted as per the mandate given to it by voters in 2016,” she said.

The mayor has a point, in that in terms of Constitutional specifications, the dissolution of Council is a process which required, among other technicalities, that the city fathers be given
time (seven working days) to respond to the provincial correspondence.

Beyond this process, the matter had to be brought to the attention of the National Council of Provinces (NCDOP).

It is only then that – “under exceptional circumstances” – the province may (or not) dissolve Council and appoint an administrator.

As the DA, EFF and ANC continue with the slanging match, several hundred residents in Modimolle’s Phagameng township continue to pound the streets looking for water, following severe shortages.

— The BEAT