DA’s Whitfield slams opponents before Bay no-confidence vote They just want to oust mayor Odendaal to get into power and loot city’s coffers, party’s provincial leader says at rally
DA provincial leader Andrew Whitfield has labelled the no-confidence motion to remove Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Retief Odendaal as a thinly veiled front to loot the city coffers.
“Why do you think they want to get into government one month before we have to pass an R18bn budget?” Whitfield said.
“They want to get their fingers in the cookie jar and they want to eat until there is nothing left.”
Whitfield was speaking on Saturday during a rally at Vuyisile Mini Square, where DA activists gathered to drum up support for the beleaguered mayor ahead of a no-confidence vote on Friday.
Whitfield, joined by other party honchos including federal council chair Helen Zille and provincial chair Yusuf Cassim, called on residents to fight to keep Odendaal in office and safeguard the gains made by their coalition over the last eight months.
“Together we must fight [to protect] Nelson Mandela Bay from the greedy, corrupt fingers that are trying to get into the pockets of ratepayers,” Whitfield said.
“There is no reason that you as the residents in this metro, no matter who you voted for, cannot pick up the phone, call the councillors from the ANC, EFF and any other party that wants to vote against this coalition and let them know that we are not going to give up on this government and Odendaal or our city.
“You can demand from councillors that they vote to keep making progress in Nelson Mandela Bay.
“Governing is not complicated, no matter how broken the municipality is.
“Don’t steal the money, appoint the right people to get the job done and deliver basic services.”
Bullish before the pending debate, Odendaal said that under the watch of the previous regime Nelson Mandela Bay had become the looting capital, evidenced by the R20bn in irregular expenditure when they took over.
“That R20bn is more than in any municipality in the country, more than any provincial government and even more than the national government,” he said. “That tells you Nelson Mandela Bay was number one for one thing, looting the state.”
Earlier this month, the EFF, backed by the ANC, submitted a fresh bid to remove Odendaal from office.
Backing the bid to remove Odendaal are the ANC, EFF, Northern Alliance, PAC and AIC, which signed a petition calling for a special council meeting on Friday.
After weeks of behind-thescenes negotiations, it emerged last week that should the ANC and EFF succeed in ousting Odendaal, his deputy Khusta Jack and chief whip Bill Harington, they would put forward speaker Gary van Niekerk’s name to lead the city.
“We know the potential of this city and in the last couple of years that has been robbed by political infighting and instability,” Odendaal said.
“We now have to take a stand to say that no political party will continue to rob us of our future.
“This city belongs to all of us and we must ensure its progress.”
ANC regional secretary Eugene Johnson rubbished claims that the party was trying to take back control to loot.
Instead, Johnson said, the DA’s coalition had collapsed because Odendaal made everything about himself.
“Hence the Hands Off Mayor Odendaal Rally,” she said.
“The majority of wards in the metro have ANC councillors where our constituencies in the township are complaining that they are not being served by the DA.
“Even where they have ward councillors in the northern areas their constituencies are also complaining, hence the dissatisfaction of some of their coalition partners.
“The inability of the DA to be a listening role player in their coalition is what has cost them,” she said.
EFF regional chair Khanya Ngqisha said the vote would be democracy at work.
“It is democracy at play, but the DA is not used to democracy.
“They would rather prefer the minority rule of apartheid where only white people had the right to vote.
“Those that resist a fair democratic process must be seen as enemies of progress and must be rejected by the people of the metro,” he said.