Kimberley’s mayor told to vacate office

Kimberley, the strife-torn capital of the Northern Cape, will be led by an acting mayor after the high court ordered Mangaliso Matika to vacate the mayoral office after he refused to resign. Violent protests have rocked Kimberley, with residents demanding that Matika, the municipal manager and the chief financial officer step down.

Kimberley, the strife-torn capital of the Northern Cape, will be led by an acting mayor after the high court ordered Mangaliso Matika to vacate the mayoral office after he refused to resign.

Violent protests have rocked Kimberley, with residents demanding that Matika, the municipal manager and chief financial officer, step down.

Among the reported reasons behind the protest was a R260 flat fee for electricity availability that residents had to pay in addition to prepaid electricity or monthly bills.

A high-level ANC delegation, including Police Minister Bheki Cele and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Zweli Mkhize, was sent to the protest-ridden town earlier this week.

Matika was voted out as mayor in a DA-sponsored motion of no confidence in which 11 ANC councillors threw their support behind the opposition last week.

On Monday, the high court ordered that an acting mayor hold the fort in the three weeks before the court deals with the merits of a review application.

It was agreed that the ANC’s Pule Thabane — the same ANC member voted in as mayor following Matika’s removal — be appointed acting mayor.

Thabane does not have the ANC’s official mandate as the party did not support the motion of no confidence in Matika in the first place.

Northern Cape DA leader Andrew Louw insisted they had done the right thing.

“It can’t be that the entire city is held hostage as a result of one person,” Louw said.