Johannesburg - After sharpening its axe on a grinding wheel, the ANC in Limpopo has begun recalling mayors seen as failing in their duties.
On Wednesday, the ANC’s provincial secretary, Nocks Seabi, and chairman, Premier Stan Mathabatha, summoned and axed three mayors: Gilbert Kganyago of the Capricorn District Municipality, Ivy Phaahla of the Lepelle Nkumpi Municipality, and Paulina Makgato of the Molemole District.
This was confirmed by one of the mayors, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“They told us to submit our reports by Friday.”
ANC leaders in Capricorn allege that Kganyago, who is also SACP provincial chairman, refuses to accept mandates from the regional leadership.
He is also said to have irked the leadership by stopping the salary of John Mpe, the deputy chairman of the Capricorn region and a senior manager in the municipality.
The regional ANC leadership met the party’s provincial leaders to express their discontent.
Kganyago and Mpe refused to comment.
Phaahla was sacked following the granting of a golden handshake of more than R1 million to municipal manager Freddy Ramaphakela.
Pressed for comment, Phaahla said: “I don’t discuss internal matters of the ANC through the media. Please respect that.”
Makgato has been criticised for failing to comply with a National Treasury and court order to reinstate construction company Matebeledinare to complete a contract.
Makgato refused to comment.
According to a senior ANC provincial executive committee member (PEC), the fourth mayor to have been sacked is David Magabe, executive mayor of the Sekhukhune District Municipality.
It is understood one of the reasons for his axing is that he has failed to address the water scarcity problem in Sekhukhune, despite spending millions of rands on the De Hoop Dam project.
The PEC member said Magabe was also in hot water for the rolling over of R500 million of the municipality’s budget.
Magabe was not available for comment.
His spokesman, Willy Mosoma, said he was not aware that the mayor had been axed.
He said the De Hoop Dam project would soon accelerate the provision of water to villages in Sekhukhune.
The PEC member said: “We have embarked on recalling all mayors who aren’t equal to the task.
“Our people deserve better service delivery. This has nothing to do with factionalism, but proper administration.
“We are going to recall all mayors, administrators and accounting officers who aren’t putting the people first. This is a collective PEC decision and not factional.”
PEC spokeswoman Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said: “The ANC PEC has yet to receive a report from its governance and monitoring subcommittee. This report covers the performance of municipalities and government departments.
“If there is poor performance, including underspending of critical grant funding by any of our municipalities or departments, the committee will recommend appropriate intervention by the PEC.
“The PEC has not taken or considered a recommendation for the recall of any mayor.”
The Sunday Independent