Resign or be removed: Emfuleni Mayor Radebe under fire

Emfuleni Local Municipality Mayor Sipho Radebe has been given until Friday to resign or face a motion of no confidence from the Democratic Alliance (DA).

The month of November marks three years since Radebe was elected mayor and three years since the last Local Government Elections in 2021.

However, the DA in Emfuleni, in Gauteng, says the municipality is deteriorating under the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) mayor.

In an interview with The Citizen on Thursday, DA caucus leader in Emfuleni Duncan Mthembu said the party had given Radebe time to resign so he could step down on his own accord.

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“We are appealing to his conscience so that he, as a responsible adult, can see the damage he has caused.”

Mthembu said the mayor had more than enough time to improve the lives of residents.

“On Friday when he leaves work, he must pack and resign. If he fails to do that, we will submit the motion of no confidence.”

Poor service delivery

Recently, Eskom announced that the sheriff of the court has successfully attached the municipality’s four bank accounts.

This is to ensure that Eskom recoups the R8 billion the municipality owes.

Mthembu said the municipality was using this as an excuse for not being able to deliver services.

“They are using this as an excuse for poor service delivery, but it was bad even before that.

“Waste is not being collected and there is no clear plan to make sure that we turn around the municipality’s poor financial situation.”

Mthembu said the municipality fails to collect revenue from residents and government departments who owe Emfuleni millions.

“They cannot allow the province not to pay for services when the municipality itself is cash strapped.”

Mthembu said Emfuleni has problems with unclean drinking water as well as water outages.

“Many townships in Emfuleni experience trouble with water.”

Motions of no confidence

Since Radebe has been mayor, the DA has submitted two motions of no confidence.

However, Mthembu said with each motion of no confidence the party displayed the best interests of residents in mind.

“We must be aware that we do not submit motions because we feel like it or to destabilise the municipality.”

He said the party would seek support from other political parties to ensure the motion is successful.

ALSO READ: Emfuleni municipality: Fears that workers won’t be paid and service delivery will completely collapse

“It is concerning that we have had this mayor since 2021, but there is nothing to show for it.”

On Saturday, 26 October, ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) member Dickson Masemola said the party will propose a new law in parliament that would stabilise municipalities.

He said the new law would ensure that municipalities do not encounter numerous motions of no confidence against the mayor and the speaker of Council.

“We went through the parliamentary processes including the executive processes what we call the Municipal Structures Amendment Bill.

“That piece of law suggested is aimed at stabilising relations among political parties. Consequently, coalition governments will not be formed on the grounds of a gentleman’s agreement.”

Should the bill be successful, councillors will have to wait for a specific period before launching a motion of no confidence, he concluded.