ANC in Cape Town takes 'dim view' of soon-to-be mayor Dan Plato
19 September 2018
The ANC in the City of Cape Town has taken "a dim view" of the DA's decision to have Dan Plato replace Patricia de Lille as mayor when her recent resignation takes effect on October 31.
The DA made this announcement on Tuesday.
"Once again, the DA overlooked other women leaders like speaker in the provincial legislature Ms Sharna Fernandez [and] Mayco member Suzette Little who raised their hands and opted for an untrustworthy Dan Plato," ANC Cape Town chief whip Thandi Makasi said in a statement.
"For far too long Dan Plato has been swimming in the mud through his clandestine dealings with gangsters in the Cape Flats.
"His record as a mayor in the past is under par."
She said there was nothing to be said about his two-year stint as mayor between 2009 and 2011.
"The ANC in the City of Cape Town has no hope that things will change for the better under his leadership."
ANC predicts more DA infighting
Makasi said her party knew that Plato was coming to the City of Cape Town to deal with those who were loyal to De Lille.
"This means, Cape Town residents can expect more fights within the DA and forget about improving service delivery until 2021," Makasi said.
The Western Cape ANC, on the other hand, described the decision to "redeploy Stand-in Dan" as "welcome news".
"Stand-in Dan was the worst MEC for community safety the province has ever had," ANC provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs said according to a statement.
"School children are being kidnapped in broad daylight, girl children disappear and their lifeless bodies are later found in shallow graves, young boys are gunned down in gang battles across the Cape Flats, contact crime increased drastically over the years and the Western Cape is again the murder capital of South Africa. All under his watch.
"He cut funding to community organisations that worked on crime prevention across the province, he disbanded the Bambanani community volunteers, he has no community policing strategy in place and community activism that proved to be a hallmark in any successful community policing strategy has been eradicated," Jacobs said.
"It is during Dan Plato's first stint as mayor that the metro police [department] experienced its biggest budget cuts and reduced employment and deployment of metro police officers. When Plato left the City of Cape Town after the 2011 elections, the staff establishment of the metro police was around 650 officers for a population of more than 3.7 million."
