By OBAKENG MAJE

Some of the residents at Christiana in North West, call for the resignation of the Lekwa-Teemane Local Municipality mayor, Sebang Motlhabi. This comes after it was reported that Motlhabi’s rented mayoral vehicle has allegedly cost the municipality over R130 000 in two months.

Dan Mongale said the Lekwa-Teemane is one of the impoverished municipalities across the country and action needs to be taken against the mayor.

“It is obvious that the situation cannot be normal in and around our town. Actually, heads must roll and all eyes are on the local council to act decisively. We hold a firm view that the mayor is not fit for a purpose and he must step aside, or be suspended immediately from rendering community services because of a trust deficit.

“The working relationship has irretrievably broken and the prevailing working atmosphere in the council administration office is currently not conducive. The residents hold a firm view that based on serious allegations levelled against the mayor, he cannot continue to lead the council under the dark cloud over him,” Mongale said.

Now, the FF+ deputy leader in the North West De Wet Nel said they have tabled a motion of no confidence against the mayor because he failed to play an oversight role on the finances of the municipality.

“Here is the mayor driving the rented car with an exorbitant amount, which cost the municipality over R130 000 in just two months. So, if the mayor continues to use this vehicle for four years, the municipality would have forked out close to R2 million.

“The handbook from the national treasury clearly states that the mayor should purchase a vehicle in the amount of R700 000. So, regarding the motion of no confidence, we will not specifically lobby ANC councillors’ support, but one cannot rule out that because the ruling party is fractured in North West,” he said.

Nel said even though they will only engage other opposition parties for support, he did not rule out the possibility that ANC councillors might vote in their favour to oust their own. He said the motion is expected to be tabled in the next council meeting next week.

Meanwhile, Motlhabi said this is just a fight-back strategy against his antagonists after he raised startling concerns over lack of service delivery. He said some senior municipal officials refused to be held accountable and now they are conniving to fight him.  

“You will remember that we got into the office in November 2021. So, I found the Toyota Fortuner, which was a mayoral car with a mileage of 490 000 km. This car experienced mechanical problems, while still using it.

“So, we reported this matter to the municipal mechanic, who advised us to take the vehicle to Toyota for repair. The municipality rented the same model, Toyota Fortuner through a travelling agency. I only used that car for two weeks and after realising that it will be too expensive, I took it back,” he said.

Motlhabi said he then raised this matter during a council and a resolution to procure a mayoral car was taken, but the administration is yet to do procurement. He said according to his understanding, to rent an SUV will not cost one less than R3000 a day, so the alleged R130 000 in two months is far-fetched.

“As the mayor, I raised concerns during the EXCO meeting after the municipality returned unused money allocated for Infrastructure Municipal Grant (IMG) to the national treasury. There are many unfinished projects here, and the municipality is spending exorbitant money on legal fees.

“I just wonder where the FF+ gets the audacity to table a motion of no confidence against me, while they have only one seat,” he said.

Meanwhile, the ANC Interim Provincial Committee (IPC) spokesperson, Kenny Morolong warned ANC councillors against voting with the opposition. Morolong said the ruling party will not tolerate that and firm actions will be taken against any councillor, who defy ANC mandate and vote with the opposition.

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By OBAKENG MAJE

The situation at the embattled Ditsobotla Local Municipality in Lichtenburg continues to be dysfunctional despite numerous attempts by the North West Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements, and Traditional Affairs to solicit the situation.

Currently, the municipality has two mayors, two speakers, and two acting municipal managers. This week, the municipal employees were prohibited by a newly appointed security company’s bouncers from entering the municipal buildings.

This irked some municipal employees, who clashed with the security guards, and gunshots were discharged in the process.

The North West MEC for COGHSTA, Lenah Miga said Ditsobotla forms part of five troubled municipalities in the province and they have applied section 154 in terms of support.

“We have seen videos on social media depicting that there is a double-parked leadership and administration in Ditsobotla, which suggests that, there are two acting municipal managers, two mayors, and two speakers.

“But what we can confirm is that there can only be one municipal manager, and that is the acting municipal manager, Josephine Ledwaba. We can also indicate that there is only one speaker, which is Mpho Lekaba,” Miga said.

She further said there has been a council resolution where the former mayor, Mercy Mokgothu was removed through a motion of no confidence.  

She said they are still gathering facts on what had transpired at the municipality on Monday and they will make an informed decision accordingly.

“We will table the report to the exco that will be sitting sometime next week and the decision will emanate from there. Remember, the council there has just been inaugurated last year and it needed to be trained.

“Even though the Premier has appointed a troika to monitor the situation, it is worrisome because it seems, we having a collapsing municipality and unfortunately, communities continue to be at the receiving end,” she said.

Miga said they have also ignited their sister department of community safety and whoever is occupying any office illegally will be chucked out.  

However, the former mayor, Mercy Mokgothu said she is still the mayor of the municipality because the motion of no confidence against her was withdrawn. Mokgothu alleged that she has been purged because she refused to recognise the appointment of Ledwaba as the acting municipal manager.

“There is an affidavit that shows that Ledwaba does not have relevant qualifications. So, I wrote a report to Miga requesting guidance and leadership, however, she was non-responsive. 

“So, I was called and reprimanded by the ANC. They instructed me and said I must make sure that Ledwaba becomes the acting municipal manager. I told them that Ledwaba refuses to submit her qualifications and there is nothing I could do,” she said.

The ANC Interim Provincial Committee (IPC) spokesperson in North West, Kenny Morolong said: “As the ANC, during the local government elections (LGE) in 2021, we vowed that municipalities should appoint suitable individuals in the administration and this is the position the party intends to uphold.

“We are unaware of any such directive to appoint individuals who do not qualify for any position for that matter. The ANC will never venture into deploying incompetent and unqualified individuals.”

Morolong said, however, they will afford Mokgothu an opportunity to engage the ANC leadership with respect to these allegations so that the party can test their veracity and make an appropriate public pronouncement.

Meanwhile, the chairperson of North West Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Premier, Finance, Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement, and Traditional Affairs, Aaron Mocwana said political interference, maladministration, misappropriation of funds, and corruption has contributed to the demise of the municipality.

“The municipality is in distress and experiencing systemic dysfunctionality. There is also a resistance to intervention due to the hasty political interference in administrative issues. The instability in the municipality can be traced back to 2006.

“There is also lawlessness at the municipality, where Supply Chain Management (SCM) issues are openly being discussed by councillors. The municipal council is also sitting on top of the Public Protector and Forensic report findings that need to be implemented, but that is not happening.” Motswana said.

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