The Stellenbosch Municipality has again been plunged into turmoil, with two service delivery protests in three days and eight ANC councillors facing the chop for repeatedly failing to attend council meetings.
The latest incident saw hundreds of disgruntled residents of Mandela City in Klapmuts embarking on an illegal march, leaving a trail of rubbish in front of the municipal offices yesterday.
The group handed over a memorandum to Stellenbosch Executive Mayor Cyril Jooste.
The memorandum says the community has been without electricity for eight years.
On Saturday, Premier Helen Zille, in her capacity as DA leader, was also in Kayamandi township, where she addressed residents.
The municipality - which has had three mayors in as many years - is the third-largest municipality in the province. The municipality is also under investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) for alleged fraud and corruption.
Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell was requested by the municipality to institute a forensic investigation into alleged fraud, corruption and maladministration uncovered by the council's audit committee.
Control of the municipality has fluctuated since the 2006 local government elections, due to the delicate balance of power in which the ANC has 17 of the 37 seats, while the DA and other smaller parties make up the rest.
Speaking from his office soon after the second protest, Jooste said the two service delivery protests were politically motivated. "We were actually warned about this illegal march. But ANC councillors are instigating this in their own areas.
"We also had some problems on Saturday when the premier was here at Kayamandi. At the moment, they are not able to take over the Stellenbosch Municipality, the ANC and its alliance partners," said Jooste.
He said another reason the ANC was trying to destabilise the municipality was that eight of its councillors were facing a disciplinary hearing for not attending council meetings.
The Code of Conduct for councillors states that a councillor absent from three or more consecutive meetings of a municipal council, or a committee, be removed from office. The councillors are to face the music on Thursday.
Former mayor Patrick Swartz said recent events showed that the municipality was in disarray. Swartz is a member of the Kayamandi Community Alliance, a small community-based, ANC-aligned political party.
"Things are not the way they should be. Things are not normal. There is quite a lot of dissatisfaction among the people, especially in the black community. It also has to do with that e-mail.
"There is some discrimination between whites and blacks in Stellenbosch, with people being referred to as 'k*****s' and 'h*****s'."
The latest incident saw hundreds of disgruntled residents of Mandela City in Klapmuts embarking on an illegal march, leaving a trail of rubbish in front of the municipal offices yesterday.
The group handed over a memorandum to Stellenbosch Executive Mayor Cyril Jooste.
The memorandum says the community has been without electricity for eight years.
On Saturday, Premier Helen Zille, in her capacity as DA leader, was also in Kayamandi township, where she addressed residents.
The municipality - which has had three mayors in as many years - is the third-largest municipality in the province. The municipality is also under investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) for alleged fraud and corruption.
Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell was requested by the municipality to institute a forensic investigation into alleged fraud, corruption and maladministration uncovered by the council's audit committee.
Control of the municipality has fluctuated since the 2006 local government elections, due to the delicate balance of power in which the ANC has 17 of the 37 seats, while the DA and other smaller parties make up the rest.
Speaking from his office soon after the second protest, Jooste said the two service delivery protests were politically motivated. "We were actually warned about this illegal march. But ANC councillors are instigating this in their own areas.
"We also had some problems on Saturday when the premier was here at Kayamandi. At the moment, they are not able to take over the Stellenbosch Municipality, the ANC and its alliance partners," said Jooste.
He said another reason the ANC was trying to destabilise the municipality was that eight of its councillors were facing a disciplinary hearing for not attending council meetings.
The Code of Conduct for councillors states that a councillor absent from three or more consecutive meetings of a municipal council, or a committee, be removed from office. The councillors are to face the music on Thursday.
Former mayor Patrick Swartz said recent events showed that the municipality was in disarray. Swartz is a member of the Kayamandi Community Alliance, a small community-based, ANC-aligned political party.
"Things are not the way they should be. Things are not normal. There is quite a lot of dissatisfaction among the people, especially in the black community. It also has to do with that e-mail.
"There is some discrimination between whites and blacks in Stellenbosch, with people being referred to as 'k*****s' and 'h*****s'."
- Cape Times
No comments:
Post a Comment