ANC, EFF help Tshwane City manager Mosola evade suspension

Like a cat with nine lives, City of Tshwane manager Moeketsi Mosola has again evaded suspension, as the ANC and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) joined forces to keep him in office.

Executive mayor Solly Msimanga was again defeated, after his second request to the city council fell flat on its belly.

This time the ANC, Pan Africanist Congress of Azania and allies of the DA, the EFF, voted against the mayor’s request by 103 votes to defer the matter to January.

The DA, African Christian Democratic Party, and Freedom Front Plus lost by just six votes.

On the eve of the council meeting, Msimanga announced he would be charging Mosola with misconduct, listing multiple transgressions the city manager committed.

According to Msimanga, Mosola had brought the city into disrepute by publicly attacking him and his administration.

He said Mosola was underperforming in his duties and targeted senior staff who refused to “play ball” in the alleged irregular appointment of GladAfrica.

However, his attempt to “draw a line in the sand” did not succeed, partly because a report he brought to support his request was “badly written” and had nothing to do with corruption and maladministration, according to Tshwane ANC leader Kgosi Maepa.

Maepa said Msimanga was only reacting to public attacks made by Mosola on social media, which had nothing to do with council.

“The executive mayor wrote a badly written report on the processes that should have unfolded in the last four months because he is ill-advised,” he said. “He is really battling to remove the city manager based on a process that is legislation.

“He did it again. He spoke about the city manager fighting him on Facebook, but those things have nothing to do with council.”

Msimanga and Mosola’s work relationship has recently been strained, with the latter approaching the Labour Court to successfully interdict the mayor and council speaker Katlego Mathebe from tabling a preliminary report that stated that he irregularly appointed project management consultants GladAfrica.

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