DA trio ‘sabotage council plan to help poor’

PATRICK HLAHLA

Metro Reporter

TSHWANE’S acting executive mayor Terrence Mashego yesterday tore into three DA councillors, accusing them of sabotaging the municipality’s fight against poverty, unemployment and inequality.

He referred to the three councillors, Adrianna Randall, Janho Engelbrecht and Lex Middelberg, as the “Three Musketeers” at yesterday’s council meeting.

The press statement issued by the three “is littered with hogwash, deception, and lies with an undertone of desperation”, Mashego charged.

The three hosted a media briefing at the DA’s offices in Pretoria on Tuesday challenging the municipality’s decision to go into the bond market.

Executive mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa recently announced that the municipality would go into the bond market to finance some of its capital projects.

The trio met the council and Standard Bank’s representatives on June 22 where a host of compliance issues on raising the finance (R1.3 billion) were discussed.

The DA councillors charged that in terms of the Municipal Finance Management Act, long-term debt such as municipal bonds may only be incurred for capital expenditure on (fixed) property, plant or equipment, after expenditure “has been approved by the municipal council”.

Mashego said the three councillors’ actions reminded him of the pre-1994 “swart gevaar” agenda propelled by the extremist white minority which said “beware of the black people; (they) will steal your land; buy food now and lock your white children as these black people are coming”.

“Now, in 2012, they send the same message to the investment community, the JSE and the banking community that beware of the ANC-led municipal council in Tshwane, it has shenanigans,” he said.

Mashego branded the three DA councillors “a cabal hell-bent (on) painting a bleak picture (of) this city”.

“The statement is thus absurd, ridiculous, malicious, devious and conniving, and amounts to gutter politics. The DA has a total disregard for a report that was approved by council to an extent of blatantly display of lies and propaganda,.

“The malicious information given to the JSE by the DA is a deliberate sabotage of the programme of the council and is tantamount to spitting in the face of the poor.

“Their deed is well orchestrated espionage with the sole intention of bringing government to its knees.”

Mashego said the municipality’s fight against poverty, unemployment and inequality “will not be sabotaged by a racist minority”.

Council Speaker Morakane Mosupye said what the trio had done was “unbecoming of a councillor”.

Mosupye said their behaviour should be referred to the rules and ethics committee for an investigation.

DA acting chief whip Marietha Aucamp said the allegations against Randall, Engelbrecht and Middelberg should be sent to the (DA) chief whip’s office. “These allegations should be put in writing.”

l The municipality is to issue its debut municipal bond of up to R1.5 billion to be listed on the JSE.

This is subject to the bond not exceeding R1.5bn, that the bond is to finance the approved capital programme for the 2011/12 financial year and be issued before June 30.

(Janho) Engelbrecht said the issuing of the bond is illegal and irregular, adding that council should look at alternative methods to fund capital projects.

Freedom Front Plus councillor Dr Conrad Beyers said the repayment for the bond “is far too expensive”.