By Willem Steenkamp and Myolisi Gophe
Demands are growing for Cape Town Mayor Nomaindia Mfeketo to be fired in the face of mounting allegations of nepotism, corruption and mismanagement that have rocked the city.
Cape Town's administration was in deep crisis and drastic steps had to be taken to save the city from a financial meltdown, DA city councillor and deputy caucus leader Ian Nielson said last night.
Former deputy mayor Belinda Walker, of the DA, said Mfeketo had effectively run the city into the ground.
'Cape Town cannot afford these failures' "As executive mayor she must take full responsibility. She has all the power and authority and the buck stops with her," said Walker.
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"The cloak of secrecy she has wrapped around mayoral committee meetings and decisions has exacerbated the crises. She must go."
Mayoral spokesman Mandla Tyala said the mayor's office was not aware of the call by the DA for Mfeketo to be removed and therefore would not comment at this stage.
Political scientist Scarlett Cornelissen, of the University of Stellenbosch, said the lack of transparency in the city's decision-making process was of great concern.
Cornelissen said this form of local government, where so much power was concentrated in the hands of an individual and her chosen committee, might not be the best for Cape Town.
'She has all the power and authority and the buck stops with her' "We have in recent times seen the high levels of unhappiness over the lack of service delivery. These pressures as well as the historic political instability of the unicity have put a lot of pressure on the ANC and this is probably why we see the top structure closing ranks," said Cornelissen.
"The lack of transparency is very worrying, while it also seems there is a lack of capacity. There is very little feedback and people do not have an opportunity to call leaders to account.
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