STATEMENT OF THE ANC GAUTENG PROVINCE ON THE STATE OF THE DA-LED COALITION

GOVERNMENTS IN TSHWANE AND JOBURG BY DELIVERED BY THE DEPUTY PROVINCIAL

CHAIRPERSON COMRADE PANYAZA LESUFI

Sunday, 26 August 2018

As the ANC Gauteng Province we have been observing the unpleasant developments in both Tshwane and
Johannesburg municipalities which are unfortunately impacting negatively on the provision of services to
the people of the two cities.

It is quite clear in Tshwane that the people of the city have been let down in a big way due to the
dysfunctional coalition government which has put the municipality under tremendous pressure as the
coalition partners battle to avoid disintegration.

There are a number of major concerns that stand out such as the issue of corruption scandals that continue
to rock the cities, the lack of service delivery that has seen our people in Hammanskraal being forced to
drink unsafe water, the endless land invasions that are not monitored and the continuous appointment of
unqualified people into strategic positions in the municipality. This has led to a situation where a motion of
no confidence on the executive mayor Cllr Solly Msimanga has been called for the Council meeting of
Thursday, 30 August 2018.

There is no doubt that the 2016 Local Government Elections have ushered in, in an unprecedented way
since the dawn of democracy, an era of unprincipled coalition governments which have in the instance of
Tshwane and Joburg including Nelson Mandela Bay municipalities proven to be too costly to maintain.
Often residents in the said cities have had to take a back seat as service delivery gets hampered by the
attempt to keep the coalition arrangements at all costs.

Parties in the respective councils have spent more time discussing motions of no confidence rather than
serving our people. We therefore believe that the final resolution that will restore order and sanity in all
these municipalities is to have a fresh mandate so that the ANC can have a clear mandate and if the ANC
does not have that mandate, we will make way for those that have been given a clear mandate to run those
municipalities.

From where we stand the Tshwane municipality is not functional and it needs assistance. The only way to
help the city is for the ANC to table a motion of no confidence on Thursday and call for fresh elections so
that the people of Tshwane can now elect a government of their choice that will restore the damage that
has been caused by the DA-led coalition in the city. We call on all parties in council that are opposed to
corruption and maladministration to support this motion.

Leading up to the motion of no confidence there will be a night vigil on Wednesday evening followed by a
march on Thursday. There has been an outcry from the people of Tshwane on the deteriorating levels of
service delivery. We therefore urge members of the ANC in Tshwane and society at large to come out in
their numbers to support the march.

Our view as the ANC is that we need to reconfigure and strengthen our Caucus within the City of Tshwane
and as such we are now formally releasing our newly elected regional chairperson Dr Kgoši Maepa to be
nominated to serve in council and to be leader of opposition in that municipality.

We are emphasising the point of him being leader of opposition because we are not willing to assume
power at all cost. We do not want to go through the back door to run that municipality. However, we are
confident that should we go for elections the ANC will emerge victorious. Therefore, the ANC is calling for
fresh elections so that the people can give a party of their choice a fresh unambiguous mandate.

In Joburg the ANC in the city has done a detailed assessment of the DA-led coalition government for the
period of August 2017 to August 2018. This assessment exposes glaring shortfalls in service delivery and
financial performance, and provide an assessment and rating of the Mayor and each Member of the
Mayoral Committee.

Despite the pronouncements by the Mayor Herman Mashaba that corruption is declared public enemy
number one, little has been done in this regard. The Mayor and his government were found to have acted
improperly in the awarding of the Institutional Review Tender. This has resulted in fruitless and wasteful
expenditure amounting to millions of rands. Unlike in other instances where allegations of corruption arise;
the Mayor has moved at a snail pace in dealing with corruption inherent in the award of the Institutional
Review Tender. He has refused to institute a forensic investigation done by an independent firm to probe
this matter. Instead he uses millions of residents’ money to pay some forensic firms to chase ghosts without
any tangible results. The question to be posed to the Mayor is “Why is he not as enthusiastic in
investigating this matter as he is in investigating other matters? Who is being protected in this regard?”

The Mayor was also found wanting as it relates to the appointment of the Field Band Foundation an NGO in
which he was a Director for over a decade. This NGO was “preferred” over others to run a city-wide drug
and substance abuse program for the city. This NGO was gifted an R 11 million contract without the
requisite skills and expertise in this area, a point the NGO made clear to the city in a proposal sent to the
City.

The Mayor was also fingered in relation to the appointment of an employee of his wife’s company to
provide “FREE” services to the city. The appointment of this long-time business associate was done without
following proper procurement procedures. The relationship between the Mayor’s wife’s company Lephatsi
Financial Services and Grant Thornton which continues to receive multi-million-rand worth of work from the
City is a matter that the Mayor must clarify. Is Lephatsi Financial Services a shareholder company that has
a stake in Grant Thornton? If yes, was the service to be provided by the Mayor’s long-time business
associate really for “free”?

Corruption at the Joburg Roads Agency (JRA) has negatively impacted on the services in the roads and
bridges upgrade program. It is in this department where allegations of corruption, maladministration and
improper interference by the Board in management matters, especially on procurement resulted in a
number of experienced senior executives leaving the City’s employ.

The myth that where the DA governs it governs better and a qualified bureaucracy is in place has been
shattered beyond a shadow of doubt in Tshwane and Joburg. Suddenly a party that had portrayed itself as
a paragon of moral virtue and as being beyond reproach finds itself exposed from all fronts and having lost
the credibility to govern. The only way to resolve this impasse is to go back to the electorate and request a
fresh mandate. The ANC is not prepared to govern through a back door and will respect whatever the will
of the people is on this matter.

Issued by ANC Gauteng Province Communications

For enquiries please contact:

Tasneem Motara
Head of Communications
073 380 4497

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Motalatale Modiba
Media Liaison Officer
072 515 3022