Matlosana: Failing ANC re-elects ousted Mayor

19 November 2018

The failing ANC today chose to re-elect as Mayor, Maitu Kgaile, who had previously been ousted by a Vote of No Confidence by the Democratic Alliance.

Today, the failing ANC showed that rewarding corruption was more important than putting the people of Matlosana first, who have been at the receiving end poor municipal services.

Kgaile’s re-election is a mockery to accountability and supremacy of the people’s will.

Only a couple of weeks ago the majority in council agreed she was not fit for her job and the Motion of No Confidence (MONC) was passed with 44 to 0 votes.

Under Mayor Kgaile’s poor leadership, Matlosana has regressed significantly on key performance indicators and in delivering quality services to residents.

The Mayor and her administration had repeatedly failed to address the failure to delivery services, which residents raised countless times. On a daily basis, residents have to endure erratic water supplies, refuse removal and travelling on dangerous potholed roads.

The Mayor’s tenure was marked by scandals allegations of impropriety. Last year, she made headlines when it was revealed that her official vehicle was written off in an accident as a result of sending her driver to run personal errands in Johannesburg.

Furthermore, the Provincial Treasury revealed that the city had incurred at least R3.9 billion in unauthorised, irregular and wasteful expenditure in the 2017/2018 financial year.

Last week Cllr Washington Ntozini was elected the new mayor and resigned as the Speaker – only to resign as Mayor one day later. This followed an intervention by the ANC’s Deputy Secretary-General, Jessie Duarte. Ntozini resigned with an apology to the failing ANC referring to his election, which was monitored and facilitated by the Independent Electoral Commission, as an “error”.

He was today again voted in as Speaker.

A member of the ANC National Executive, David Mahlobo was sitting amongst the public in the gallery and during one break, ANC spokespeople explicitly told supporters to show unity “otherwise the DA will play it in the media again”.  This was despite the two distinct groups swearing and booing each other.

The failing ANC’s internal political instability brought by factionalism and division has resulted in a collapse of governance and brought basic service delivery to a complete halt in the North West. While the internal factional wars within the ANC continues to escalate, the people of North West fall victim to desperation brought on by a lack of services, increased unemployment and poverty.

The cracks within the failing ANC can no longer be concealed as the power struggle between the Ramaphosa and Zuma factions continues to widen. The failing ANC is at war with itself and the people and they will need more and more babysitters to ensure office bearers vote as prescribed by the party.

The DA remains the only united party that can form a government in the North West that will bring the necessary change and interventions to fix what the failing ANC has broken.

The time has come for the people of North West to rise up against the failing ANC and vote for DA-led change that Builds One South Africa for All.

Issued by Joe McGluwa, DA North West Premier Candidate 19 November 2018