Election of new Sekhukhune mayor ‘does not guarantee service delivery’

Sekhukhune has a new mayor. The municipality elected a new mayor, Maleke Mokganyetsi, last week.

This followed the resignation of former mayor Julia Mathebe on 30 November, following her arrest on 24 November for her alleged involvement in depositing R190 million into the now defunct VBS Mutual Bank during her tenure in Elias Motsoaledi local municipality, which falls under Sekhukhune district municipality.

While Mathebe could not say whether she was ready for the upcoming legal battle or not, she confirmed that she had resigned.

ALSO READ: Sekhukhune mayor ordered to discipline official over alleged corruption

“I have already stepped aside from both positions – as the ANC’s regional chair in Sekhukhune and mayor as per the ANC’s 54th national conference resolution,” Mathebe said.

Longest-serving councillor

New mayor Mokganyetji said: “I am humbled and honoured to be elected to lead this institution. It has always been my view that when all stakeholders work together for a common purpose, a lot can be achieved.”

A teacher by profession, Mokganyetsi is the longest-serving councillor in the Sekhukhune district municipality in Limpopo.

Councillor Seun Mogotji, from the Bolsheviks Party of South Africa, welcomed the election of Mokganyetsi.

“The Bolsheviks Party welcomes the new executive mayor. We are ready to work with her to ensure development and service delivery reaches the people of Sekhukhune in all the corners of our district,” Mogotji said.

Socialist Agenda of Dispossessed Africans councillor Joseph Kgwedi said: “Our conundrum over the appointment of Maleke Mokganyetsi as the mayor is whether she is the right person to pull the sinking ship out of the troubled waters.

ALSO READ: Sekhukhune residents sceptical about deadline for R1.1bn water project

“As the former member of the mayoral committee of the department of budget and Treasury, she failed dismally to assist the municipality to improve on its revenue collection strategy which, in the main, is the artery of service delivery,” Kgwedi said.

Reacting to the resignation of Mathebe, Kgwedi said: “We note with concern the resignation of Mathebe as the executive mayor and also condemn the manner in which it happened.

“This was not done voluntarily, meaning that her resignation was never of her own will. She was forced to resign after she was arrested and charged with corruption, money laundering and contravention of the provisions of Municipal Finance Management Act 56, 2003,” he added.

Mayors ‘not really accountable to national government’

An independent political analyst in Limpopo, Enoch Maponya, said the election of the new mayor did not guarantee service delivery.

“We are operating like a federal state where national and municipal governments are independent of each other.

“The mayors and municipal managers are not really accountable to the national government,” said Maponya.

ALSO READ: Sekhukhune municipality awards R4m water tender for hospital amid favouritism claims