Tshwane ANC rejects mayor Mokgalapa's 'corrupt golden handshake' in GladAfrica scandal
The ANC in Tshwane has rejected "with all the contempt it deserves" the "corrupt golden handshake" newly appointed Tshwane mayor, Stevens Mokgalapa, has offered to pay controversial engineering consultancy firm GladAfrica.
In a statement, ANC caucus spokesperson Lesego Makhubela said: "We, the ANC, are astonished and left aghast by the sheer disregard for the prescripts of law by the DA administration in the City of Tshwane. How the current duo, in the form of Mokgalapa and [City manager Moeketsi] Mosola, simply side step an adverse record of findings of the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) on the GladAfrica scandal, is baffling to us."
Makhubela said the party would seek legal counsel after hearing about Mokgalapa's intentions pertaining to the contract.
Last month, Mosola did an about-turn regarding the GladAfrica scandal, conceding that the expenditure for the tender was in fact irregular, as stated by the Auditor-General.
The party issued the statement after Mokgalapa announced at a media briefing in Pretoria early on Monday morning that the contract had been terminated by mutual agreement.
But Makhubela said Mokgalapa accrued powers to himself he did not have when he went public about the decision he took to terminate the GladAfrica contract and to promise a golden handshake of R250m without first approaching the council for approval.
"Having been found by the City of Tshwane itself and the AGSA that the contract with Glad Africa is invalid as it was awarded unlawfully, the [City] ought to terminate the arrangement on that basis alone," he said.
No payment or compensation should be due to GladAfrica, the party said.
Makhubela added that the party would lay criminal charges against the city's COO, City manager, executive mayor and the mayoral committee for authorising continued payment to GladAfrica.
The party also challenged Mokgalapa to table a report to the council on the suspension of Mosola.
"If the new executive mayor fails to present such a report in this council today it will be clear as daylight that we have been ushered into an era of the lack of accountability and sheer corruption and graft by the DA administration. It will be clear that the people of this municipality have been sacrificed on the altar of political expediency and power mongering," said Makhubela.
The party further proposed that a commission of inquiry be set up to probe the awarding of the contract and that the Hawks take steps to recover money already paid in terms of the contract.
