Rustenburg – The Forum 4 Service Delivery (F4SD) on Sunday denied it had been on the verge of expelling liberation fighter Rocky Malebana-Metsing, who died recently.
“In the spirit of peace the F4SD will at all cost avoid talking about the late honourable Rocky since the F4SD would like to give family sufficient space to mourn this fearless fighter,” F4SD national convenor Mbahare Kekana said.
Malebana-Metsing, 67, died on November 23 in Rustenburg. F4SD councillor in the Rustenburg municipality Pogiso Bothomane on Thursday told mourners at a memorial service for Malebana-Metsing that he was on the brink of being expelled from the F4SD.
Bothomane described a difficult journey he and Malebana-Metsing had travelled after aligning themselves with the forum in the lead up to the municipal elections on August 3.
He said they were suspended on August 18, a day before the first sitting of the Rustenburg city council, and were only reinstated after lawyers intervened. They were again suspended on October 16 and given a final warning.
“We were suspended and given final written warning. The letters stated that if we do not pay a fine of R5 000 by November 30 we will be expelled. The Rock passed away waiting for his letter,” Bothomane said.
Kekana said there was a miscommunication leading up to the council sitting but the forum had rectified the mistake and the two councillors were allowed to occupy their seats in council.
“It is very pity because he choose the late Rocky’s funeral to attack the F4SD, the forum which feeds him and his family. We provided him with shelter when he was desperately in need and councillorship after the ANC outrightly sidelined him and others during their lists process,” he said.
“Mr Bothomane is a man with too much uncontrollable ambitions and disrespectful to the F4SD national forum executive council. He doesn’t want to contribute to the growth of the F4SD, he always acts inconsistent with the directions of the F4SD. He is not even a member in good standing, and as the F4SD we are dealing with that. How can you be a councillor of an organisation of which you are not even a member in good standing?”
He said the F4SD, like any other organisation, had internal processes to exhaust when one was aggrieved, but Bothomane was hiding behind his lawyers refusing to follow the channels before him.
“Mr Bothomane, for instance, was given until the 30 November 2016 to fix his membership in line with the F4SD constitution and to stop doing as he pleases. He is expected to pay up the arrears he owes towards the Rustenburg constituency office and a fine imposed to him. The F4SD will not tolerate misbehaviour and disrespect by Mr Bothomane. He is doing nothing for the growth of the F4SD.”
He added that the F4SD was aware that there were councillors “hiding inside” the forum until the 2017 ANC national conference.
“The F4SD has solicited the services of investigators to help root out those councillors who intends to suck the blood of the F4SD like they did with Cope [Congress of the People] and AgangSA. We will proactively take all our councillors to polygraph tests if need be. F4SD will never give a space to infiltrators in the organisation, instead will unceremoniously boot them out.”
African News Agency