What are we paying for?
THE PRESENTATION of the still secret Section 106 investigation into alleged irregularities at the Sol Plaatje Municipality as well as the election of a new mayor for Kimberley has done little to restore normalcy to the madness currently reigning in the corridors of the city’s civic centre.
Nothing has been settled and it is not likely that meetings –or vital decisions regarding development in the city -– are likely to take place any time soon.
The Section 106 investigation was presented to councillors at a special council meeting on Thursday last week but there is no clear direction on where to from here. The report has not been made public and even councillors were not given copies to study further in depth.
Meanwhile, while we have a new mayor, Pule Thabane, duly elected by a narrow majority at the same meeting, the ANC has vowed that it will not rest until it’s preferred candidate, Patrick Mabilo, is sitting in the seat (and earning the salary).
It has been 104 (and counting) days since the suspension of the chief financial officer and the municipal manager, Goolam Akharway. For three months already, city residents have been carrying the costs of paying for two CFOs and two MMs – and we are no closer to a resolution. This is an additional unforeseen cost that the city cannot afford.
The ANC, meanwhile, has expelled nine of the 11 councillors who missed the brief and supported the DA-led vote of no confidence in the former mayor, Mangaliso Matika. Among the nine already expelled is the new mayor, elected on Thursday last week, Pule Thabane. The other two are still awaiting their fate as their disciplinary hearings have apparently been postponed.
What happens now is uncertain because while the political party can kick these councillors out, it cannot force them to resign from council. In the meantime, they have been given 21 days to appeal the ANC’s decision. So nothing is going to happen before the end of November at the earliest. And then nothing is likely to happen in December when traditionally everything comes to halt anyway. So for more than half a year, the council will have been is a state of limbo. And it is starting to tell.
In the meantime, the municipality technically doesn’t have a MM or CFO currently. The contracts for the two officials currently acting have expired and while the MEC for Coghsta has apparently extended their contracts, this hasn’t been ratified by council. It was one of the items on the agenda for last Thursday’s meeting but apparently the meeting ended in chaos and it was never done.
This means that both the executive and the administration of the municipality are essentially non-functional.
The question must be asked whether a city can and should be held hostage by political infighting?
While politicians are jostling for power – and their share of the salary cake – this city is going backwards daily. Individuals and businesses are trying to keep it together – taking on the role of cleaning the city and fixing potholes. This isn’t and should never be their job. It is the job of the municipality, and which, we, the residents of the city, pay for every month. What exactly are we paying for? For councillors to act like children, squabbling, arguing and pointing fingers, while absolutely nothing gets done?
Even the nightly water shutdowns seem to have become the norm. Yet not a word has been communicated to residents about this? One wonders if the electricity is the next to go?
How much are we prepared to take before we stand up and say no more?
The time is getting closer and the people are getting angrier.