Pretoria - The actions of Tshwane’s big three - the ruling DA, official opposition ANC and kingmaker EFF - with regards to tender irregularities leave much to be desired.
The DA administration managed to rid Tshwane of the Peu smart meters contract and referred the matter to the Hawks for possible prosecution.
However, politicians in the metro continue to speak in tongues with regards to those implicated in the GladAfrica scandal, particularly city manager Dr Moeketsi Mosola.
During its last sitting on Thursday the council approved the termination of the controversial GladAfrica contract with immediate effect, and this should be commended.
When Mayor Stevens Mokgalapa came into office two weeks ago he promised to deal decisively with the matter. He did so, supported by all political parties in council.
At the same time Tshwane announced it had commenced the disconnection and removal of the Peu smart meters.
This matter has its genesis in the high court ruling that set aside the roll-out of the smart meters. The project was administered by Peu Capital Partners under the former ANC government.
When it came into power, the DA-led coalition vowed to ensure the matter, which was already before the courts, reached its conclusion.
The court action was instituted by Sakeliga, a division of AfriForum previously known as AfriBusiness.
At the conclusion of court proceedings, the City stated that those implicated in the unlawful awarding of the contract were not off the hook because the matter was already under investigation by the Hawks.
When it was in power the ANC and then mayor Dr Kgosientso Ramokgopa had all sorts of explanations on why Peu was not procured through a competitive bidding process.
Ramokgopa would tell everyone “the young men at Peu came up with the idea and we were not going to put their idea up for tender”.
But on GladAfrica both Mokgalapa and the opposition are sending mixed messages on the way forward.
First, the mayor announced a financial misconduct board would probe cases of misconduct involving officials implicated in the saga, specifically Mosola.
But a few days later in council, Mokgalapa changed his tune and told councillors that he would erase from his report a recommendation that sought to address the impasse between Mosola and council over the Bowman report into the matter.
The report, including that of the auditor-general, implicated Mosola in awarding the contract without following due processes.
Then you have the ANC; the official opposition’s stance on Mosola is vague, sad and unfortunate.
The Dr Kgosi Maepa-led ANC caucus welcomes the report that the GladAfrica tender was irregular and that the city manager must be suspended pending an investigation.
But alas, the ANC just will not support any recommendation to that effect, well, at least not in council where it matters most.
Maepa has on numerous radio interviews said Mosola has to go, but come action time his ANC always finds a reason not to support the suspension.
Mudzuli is Pretoria News assistant editor. He writes in a personal capacity.