The ANC is set to wrest back the Tlokwe mayoral seat from the DA tomorrow after ruling party councillors were ordered to reinstate ousted mayor Maphetle Maphetle.

ANC top leadership held a national working committee meeting in Potchefstroom recently and gave a directive that its councillors should work together and pass a vote of no confidence in incumbent Annette Combrinck.

The DA on the other hand boasts that the three months it has been in charge of the municipality has given it enough foothold to convince the electorate to vote for it in the coming elections.

Its leader, Helen Zille, visited the municipality at the weekend and expressed satisfaction with what she saw.

Zille said that under Combrinck, a municipal infrastructure grant unit was established to speed up the application and transfer process for national grants, ensuring that none of these grants go unspent and to speed up the roll-out of basic services to residents.

“Urgently needed repairs were carried out to the city’s fire fighting vehicles to allow them to function properly. Before this, several firefighting vehicles were standing idle, unable to carry out their crucial work – especially in Ikageng, where fires spread rapidly.

“The DA refused to accept that R736000 of public money was spent on a new mayoral car ordered by the former mayor.

“The new Mercedes Benz E-class with customised rose wood interior was delivered to the council because it was too late to stop the order, but we have referred this purchase to the auditor-general for investigation and to see if it is possible to recover any or all of the cost,” she said.

She added that townships in Potchefstroom were for the first time exposed to real service delivery issues where refuse was collected and connections to water and electricity made.

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