The Freedom Front Plus said in a statement that the mayor of the Tshwane metro council, Dr. Gwen Ramokgopa, should ‘join Cope and get it over with' so that the council can be rid of her and start to recover from her disastrous term as mayor.
This follows after it was revealed that Ramokgopa and the municipal manager, Kiba Kekana, and their direct staff spent close to R300 000 on a year end bash, where taxpayers had to foot the bill for, amongst others, ‘copious amount of alcohol'.
This expensive function was held despite the fact that the council had a cash flow deficit of R127,6 million for the year 2008-'09. Senior management moreover decided, in order to save money, that no other department would hold a year-end function.
According to Mr. Conrad Beyers, FF Plus councillor, Ramokgopa and the local ANC leadership again make the mistake of treating taxpayers as if they were serving the council. They still do not realise that the council should actually deliver services to the taxpayers.
"By wasting taxpayers' money on alcohol is a slap in the face of thousands of families and individuals who dutifully pay their taxes in difficult economic circumstances. It is high time that the city gets rid of its current leadership. It would benefit all if Ramokgopa, who has always been a staunch Mbeki-supporter, resigns as mayor to join Cope, where she belongs", Beyers said.
In October this year the Freedom Front Plus laid a complaint at the Public Protector wherein it asks that serious allegations of corruption, nepotism and mismanagement in the council should be investigated. According to the Office of the Public Protector the matter is being investigated.
The complaint includes allegations that taxpayers had to pay monthly tabs of over R300 000 for ‘lekgotlas' at exclusive venues in other provinces.
"The FF Plus hopes that the investigation by the Public Protector is concluded as soon as possible. If the mayor and the local ANC-leadership is found guilty of mismanagement, the metro council can be placed under administration by the provincial government. This basically means that if Ramokgopa does not resign of her own accord, there are other ways to remove her from office", Beyers added.
Statement issued by the Freedom Front Plus December 4 2008
