Johannesburg - The Democratic Alliance-led Johannesburg Metropolitan Council continues to work hard for the people of the city while the African National Congress (ANC) tells lies from the opposition benches, mayor Herman Mashaba said on Thursday.
Mashaba's comments came after the ANC said this week it had learnt that Mashaba was set to fire mayoral committee member (MMC) for Finance Rabelani Dagada, due to the city's continued billing crisis.
''The ANC has gone mad, they're failing as an opposition...much more worse than they were in government. Why would I fire him? Did they think they would attract attention by lying?
"They lie as an opposition, how are people going to believe the ANC when it lied for the past 20 years, was kicked out and still lies? They have taken their lies to another level,'' he told journalists after a joint briefing in Soweto with DA leader Mmusi Maimane and other DA mayors from Nelson Mandela Bay, Tshwane and Cape Town.
The ANC was unseated in Johannesburg after last year's local government elections when the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) chose to give their vote to the DA, instead of the ANC.
Instead, Mashaba on Wednesday fired Economic Development MMC Sharon Peetz for "suspected misconduct'' after she allegedly submitted a fake proof of payment as evidence that she paid for her mother's expenses when she accompanied her on an official trip to Spain.
''ANC brought it to our attention that public funds were used to pay for her mother, we initially found it not to be true earlier this year. I checked with her and she brought proof hat she herself paid for her mother through the travel agent...but then on Monday it came to my attention that she actually did not pay, although she had told me she paid. I had serious problems with that as I cannot trust her in the future, I felt compromised because I cannot work with people I cannot trust.''
The ANC on Thursday in turn called for Mashaba to resign for ''covering up'' Peetz's trip details.
''We are not impressed by the mayor’s publicity stance. He pretends to be a man of integrity yet he tried to cover up the story by agreeing with councillor Peetz to repay the money so that the matter could be laid to rest. We call on the mayor to also step down as he was part of a cover up mission to protect councillor Peetz,'' ANC Johannesburg spokesman Jolidee Matongo said in a statement.