Olive branch for ‘rogue’ ANC councillors

WHILE ANC members who are loyal to Sol Plaatje executive mayor Mangaliso Matika are celebrating his return to office, the 11 ANC councillors who participated in the special council meeting to vote him out, have been assured that they are “not the enemy”.

ANC regional secretary Webster Dichaba addressed the crowd outside the Northern Cape High Court yesterday and said that the “real enemy was the DA”.

“Authority has been restored at Sol Plaatje Municipality. No ANC deployee shall be removed by the DA. We will engage with the 11 ANC councillors and meet with them around the same table. We are extending an olive branch, in the interests of all who reside in the Sol Plaatje municipal district.

“If you want to lead, you must listen to the concerns of our people. We invite anyone to engage with us, if they so wish.”

He advised members to “remain calm and not to take the law into their own hands”.

“We are still awaiting the outcome of the section 106 investigation at Sol Plaatje Municipality and other outstanding matters. Let justice prevail.”

Dichaba believed that the court had proven that the councillor’s signatures on the petition were fraudulent.

“They are showing signs of desperation. Since February this year, the DA submitted three motions of no confidence in the executive mayor and all these motions were defeated in chambers.

“The DA chose to walk out of a very important meeting, when one of these motions was dismissed.”

He added that the court judgment would be studied “regionally, provincially and nationally”.

“We want to remind the community that the ANC is a caring organisation. Every one of the demands that was listed on the memorandum during the community march was addressed.”