Moses Kotane ANC councillors boycott council, demand that Mbalula address them

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has been asked to take a trip to Mogwase, the seat of Moses Kotane Local Municipality in the North West, to address ANC councillors who want an audience with him.

A large number of ANC councillors boycotted the council meeting on Friday after they refused to rescind a council resolution to appoint a new CFO, despite him facing fraud and corruption charges in court. They want Mbalula to come and address the matter himself in party caucus and not their local leadership.

The council speaker had to adjourn the meeting after two 20 minutes breaks hoping the absent councillors would return. Instead of returning more councillors also joined the boycott.

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Twenty-one councillors out of 69 were physically counted inside the chamber, while the attendance register showed 35 had actually signed the attendance book. Nine ANC councillors were absent from the meeting.

Among ANC councillors who boycotted were Kopano Khunou, Mookamedi Thale and Rose Lukhele who stayed outside and refused to enter the chamber. The three were later joined by some of those who signed the register after they decided not return after a break.

Another councillor Mpho Raboroko decided to attend a South African Local Government workshop in Mahikeng although he was not invited. Only councillors Obakeng Pilane and Efesia Matshereng were officially attending the workshop on behalf of Moses Kotane.

According to two separate ANC sources, the councillors boycotted the sitting to avoid participating in reversing a council resolution to appoint new CFO, Mzwandile Mkhize. He was appointed although he faces criminal charges in court emanating from the VBS Bank saga.

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The ANC-dominated council, with the backing of the opposition parties, endorsed Mkhize’s appointment last December.

Mkhize and two senior officials were charged after they allegedly facilitated an investment of more than R300 million in municipal funds into VBS Bank on behalf of West Rand local municipality in Gauteng.
Mkhize was appointed in defiance of Luthuli House’s instruction that no person charged with corruption, including the VBS graft, should be appointed into state organs or elected into public office.

Mbalula ordered the ANC provincial executive committee (PEC) to ensure the appointment was reversed.
The PEC, which visited the ANC caucus at Kotane last week in an attempt to persuade it to reverse Mkhize’s appointment, was told that would not happen. The councillors claimed it was in fact the PEC that encouraged the improper appointment and was now trying to backtrack with pressure from the ANC head office.

Now the boycotting councillors want Mbalula to come and address the caucus himself and give direction about what should be done and were not prepared to deal with the PEC and the REC about the matter.