Barely three months after the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Jeff Zwane was ousted from the position of the Executive Mayor of Metsimaholo Local Municipality (MLM), signs are there that the man who replaced him, the current Executive Mayor, Jack Malindi, will soon be heading to the exit door.
The cruel and sharp axe of coalition politics is hanging dangerously close to the head of the once-popular Malindi as the African Independent Congress (AIC) councillor has now fallen foul of his coalition partners who have called for a motion of no-confidence in his leadership.
Speaking to Sedibeng Ster, Council spokesperson, Dr. Gino Alberts, confirmed that the Metsimaholo Council will have a special sitting on Thursday 16 November 2023 to discuss the motion of no-confidence against Malindi.
The motion was brought about by the Metsimaholo Civic Association (MCA), with the backing of the ANC.
It is alleged that Mayor Malindi rubbed his coalition partners the wrong way after he failed to discipline some members of the Mayoral Committee who were accused of undermining the Code of Conduct for Councillors, operations procedures and his authority as the political head of the institution.
The actions of the councillors are also thought to be behind the mass resignation of ANC councillors from the Mayoral Committee last week, a situation which has led to the disbandment of the Mayoral Committee.
While the disbandment of the Mayoral Committee could have massive ramifications for governance in the MLM, independent political analyst, Professor Goodfriday Mhlongo, does not believe service delivery would be affected negatively, in the short-term, by the move.
“We can assume that the administration (of the municipality) will continue to run (undisrupted), because the administration is run by the municipal manager as well as senior directors and managers; so the administration should not necessarily be affected (by the political leadership changes) by what is going on at governance level. For instance, basic services should continue to be provided to the residents of Metsimaholo,” said Mhlongo.
Prof Mhlongo added that with elections looming next year, municipalities such as Metsimaholo, which are governed by coalitions, should not expect to see stability as political parties continue to compete with one another as they vie for the hearts and minds of the voters.
