ANC Tshwane caucus to table own no confidence motion against Mokgalapa

The ANC’s Tshwane caucus plans to table its own motion of no confidence against embattled Mayor Stevens Mokgalapa.

The party’s provincial secretary, Jacob Khawe, said the caucus, which is calling for the removal of Mokgalapa and acting city manager Moeketsi Ntsimane, had his backing.

“The motion to be tabled in terms of sections 7(1) and 7(2) of the rules and orders of council arises due to recent developments that led to Mokgalapa allegedly being placed on special leave by his political party, the DA.

“The motion deals with the long-standing issues of the Hammanskraal water crisis, alleged Aurecon corruption scandal and Wonderboom Airport corruption scandal of plus or minus R900,000 per month.

“Residents of Tshwane have suffered long enough under the DA-led government’s failed leadership experiments. This has seen the municipality staggering from one scandal to another under the rudderless mayorships of Solly Msimanga and Mokgalapa,” Khawe said.

The party claimed under the DA the flouting of tender procedures as outlined in the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) and rampant levels of unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure in the City of Tshwane have become normalised.

“The water supply crisis in various areas, especially Hammanskraal, has led to an outcry from society, prompting institutions like the SA Human Rights Commission to intervene. Electricity cuts in Olievenhoutbosch, Soshanguve, Mabopane, Mamelodi, Pretoria West and East, Laudium and Itireleng are a daily occurrence, while residents in areas like Atteridgeville are concerned for their health as garbage piles up in their township.

“The latest multibillion-rand scandal involving the appointment of Aurecon South Africa to manage the City’s R18bn property and land portfolio saw R6.4m being paid to the company even before any service level agreement could be entered into with the City. This follows the unprecedented GladAfrica multibillion-rand contact which was terminated after the Auditor-General declared it irregular and illegal.

“At Wonderboom Airport, the DA administration is embroiled in another scandal that has seen a company being paid R900 000 per month to allegedly manage the national airport which is rundown.”

Khawe said the insatiable appetite to continuously appoint senior managers to key positions without qualifications became a defining feature of the DA-led administration, and it had led to the collapse of services to the people of Tshwane.

“The current acting city manager, who is also the audit executive in the City of Tshwane, has been found wanting and conflicted, and as such should not be reappointed. We are aware that as of midnight, his acting appointment comes to an abrupt end. We call on parties in the council to work together and reject a report by the disgraced executive mayor to request extension of Ntsimane’s acting capacity.”

The Tshwane council will sit on Thursday.

The EFF’s motion of no confidence was tabled on Tuesday, while the ANC will table its motion on Thursday morning.

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