Pretoria (Photo: Clayton Majona/Pixabay)
A special council meeting is called for 28 March to appoint a new executive mayor for Tshwane.
The speaker of the municipality, Mncedi Ndzwanana, confirmed in a statement that the meeting will take place at 10:00 in the morning.
This follows after Faith Mazibuko, acting MEC for the department of acting cooperation, e-government, research and development, formally requested Ndzwanana to provide reasons why the municipality has not yet appointed a mayor.
Rhewal reported earlier the election of the new mayor is proceeding at a snail’s pace. On Wednesday, the metro council tried for the second time within a week to elect a mayor after the DA walked out of the meeting last week as a sign of protest.
Cilliers Brink, the multi-party coalition in Tshwane’s mayoral candidate, said on Wednesday afternoon that it is clear that the ANC‑EFF coalition does not have the numbers to run a “puppet mayor” – as in the case of Dr. Murunwa Makwarela – not to be preferred.
Mazibuko told the speaker that as the acting MEC responsible for government in the province, she views the state of affairs in the city in “a very serious light”.
“This means that the city remains without a mayor and that a vacuum is left in the executive leadership. The continued failure to appoint a mayor puts the integrity and governance of the municipality at risk.”
Mazibuko believes this will “undoubtedly have far-reaching consequences for stability in the municipality”.
Mazibuko appeals to all council members to put the interests of the residents in Pretoria first and take the necessary steps to appoint a mayor as quickly as possible. She warns all councilors to act in the best interest of the municipality and residents of the city at all times.
Brink said earlier that it is clear that the Gauteng premier, Panyaza Lesufi, also the ANC’s leader in the province, is working with councilors from the ANC and EFF to disrupt the management of the city and create chaos so that the Gauteng provincial government at may try to interfere in the city’s affairs.
“Of course there is the fear that the purpose of this is to channel resources to the ANC and possibly even the EFF in the run-up to the 2024 elections.”
Brink wrote to Lesufi and warned him that his alleged interference in Tshwane’s affairs “makes it difficult for him to fulfill his responsibilities as premier towards the city”.
“The most important issue now is that the ANC-EFF coalition is disrupting corruption, service delivery and government in the Tshwane metro. We will not hesitate to hold Lesufi and the ANC fully responsible for the consequences of their actions, even if we have to go to court again and get a costs order against the people who are personally involved here.”
The multi-party coalition in the Tshwane Metro Council consists of the DA, ActionSA, FF Plus, IVP and ACDP.
