ActionSA believes councillor got R2 million to vote for ex-Tshwane mayor, lays bribery charges

ActionSA national chair Michael Beaumont says the ANC’s “people’s march” on Friday has nothing to do with fighting corruption but is an initiative to claw back the Tshwane metro.

“Anything the ANC does where they talk about fighting corruption or delivering services must be deemed sceptical. Fighting the ANC is fighting corruption,” said Beaumont.

“When the ANC was in charge of this municipality, they were deemed to be guilty of a huge amount of corruption.”

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Beaumont was speaking outside the Olievenhoutbosch police station on Thursday, where the party laid R2 million bribery charges against Defenders of People (DOP).

According to Beaumont, their councillor and former Tshwane MMC for human settlements Kgosietsile Kgosiemang was approached by a DOP councillor who allegedly promised him R2 million if he voted against the Democratic Alliance (DA)-led coalition’s preferred mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink.

He said Kgosiemang was allegedly offered his yearly salary or a salary that would last him his remaining term as an MMC to vote against Brink.

Dr Murunwa Makwarela was later elected the mayor after eight councillors in the DA-led coalition voted for the ANC and EFF-led coalition, a move the DA called a betrayal.

Beaumont said this could not be tolerated because the DA-led coalition has a majority that was awarded to it by the residents of Tshwane.

“That majority is being undermined by individuals who are buying or selling their votes like shares on the stock exchange and that can not be tolerated,” he said.

“This councillor from DOP did not act in isolation. “I do not think DOP has R2 million in cash available.

“There’s a group of political parties that are involved in a coup, buying their majority through ill-gotten processes.

“We want to make a call to the police to make it primary to their investigation to look into the involvement of parties like the ANC and EFF in this.”

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He said an investigation had since been instituted and was closing in on several councillors who might have been involved in the alleged bribery.

General secretary of DOP Aubrey Maake said: “These allegations are just a lie because how will it benefit us as DOP to bribe someone to vote for Dr Makwarela?

“If we were involved in the coalition, maybe I would suspect our councillor is involved.”