Malema sees opportunity in dissolved Tshwane council

EFF leader Julius Malema has welcomed a move by the Gauteng government to dissolve the City of Tshwane and to put it under administration.

His comments came hours after Gauteng Premier David Makhura announced that the municipality, which has failed to elect a new mayor or pass budget, would now be placed under administration as per section 139 1(c) of the Constitution.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Black Business Council’s 2020 Summit in Johannesburg, Malema said this presented an opportunity for the electorate in the capital city to put in charge a government of its choosing.

“We hope when we come from elections there [will] be a proper mandate from the people of Tshwane,” said Malema.

He said the dissolution was a result of parties in the council failing to find one another.

The EFF, which had hoped to convince the ANC or DA to back their mayoral candidate, previously said it wanted to get a chance at the helm to show that it was capable of governing.

When asked what went wrong with talks with the ANC, Malema accused the party of behaving like the DA, saying both did not appreciate that they had not won the elections.

“The ANC was behaving the same way as the DA, arrogantly, as if they have won government in a coalition. Even a party with one seat can be a mayor because it holds a deciding vote, so when parties hold deciding votes they must listen to each other,” said Malema.

He also blamed some of the challenges plaguing the capital city on both parties, including the water issues in Hammanskraal.

“Parties that governed Tshwane have failed to give people clean water,” said Malema.

He said his party wants to build a water reticulation plant in the area to make sure people in Hammanskraal could access clean water.

Malema also complained that Tshwane was dirty, saying it was as if it isn’t a capital city at the moment.

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