Metro mayor comes under fire
Chippa decision shows ‘power at play with Pakati ... the target’
THE power and influence of Buffalo City Metro mayor Xola Pakati was tested at a heated ANC caucus meeting this week which led to a shock decision by the city to break ties with Chippa United.
In a move seen as a precursor to attempts to remove Pakati, the ANC faction aligned with suspended Dr WB Rubusana secretary Pumlani Mkolo pushed for the city to end its relationship with soccer boss Siviwe “Chippa” Mpengesi.
The decision – announced by Pakati at a council meeting on Wednesday – came after Mkolo-aligned councillors won the day at the ANC caucus meeting the day before.
It is understood that outspoken Mkolo supporters such as Sindiswa Gomba argued strongly for the scrapping of the Chippa United project during the caucus meeting, describing it as being too costly for the city. BCM paid the Port Elizabethoutfit R1-million for each game played here.
The rejected memorandum of understanding, which was presented to council by city manager Andile Sihlahla, would have seen the amount escalate to R1.3-million a game.
A senior councillor, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the motion to dump Chippa caught the Pakati grouping by surprise.
“The item of scrapping the deal with Chippa came as a shock.
“Our understanding was that everyone in the council was on the same page and understands the importance of such an investment.
“This is one council decision which will go down in history as an emotional one, based on very narrow factional differences,” said the senior BCM councillor.
Pakati has been on record about his plan to turn BCM into a sports mecca and the deal with Chippa United was seen as his flagship project as it brought top-flight football to the city.
As part of the existing deal, the club will still face Mamelodi Sundowns at Mdantsane’s Sisa Dukashe Stadium on Sunday (see Page 6).
The fight inside the ANC caucus is linked to the outcome of the recent ANC provincial conference where Oscar Mabuyane was elected as provincial chairman, defeating Phumulo Masualle. Mkolo and his grouping are pro-Mabuyane while Pakati, mayoral committee members Ncedo Kumbaca and Xolani Witbooi support Masualle.
On the same day as the Chippa United decision, Pakati was forced to backtrack, announcing the reinstatement of Mawethu Marata as a mayoral committee member in charge of local economic development and agencies.
Marata – who once described himself as “someone seen to be aligned to Mkolo” – was demoted by the Pakati-led leadership in December last year after he defied the ANC regional leadership.
He had questioned the makeup of a selection committee to choose a new municipal manager.
The decision to reinstate him was taken while Masualle was still in office, but the Dr W B Rubusana deployment committee had continued to drag their feet on implementing the decision.
With Mabuyane now in power, the newly elected provincial executive committee (PEC), which met in Mthatha last week, resolved to instruct Pakati to effect that earlier resolution to reappoint Marata.
Said an ANC councillor who was part of the Tuesday caucus: “If you look at these two major decisions, you can see that power is at play here and the mayor and his core are the target.”
But Pakati yesterday downplayed the divisions saying the decision not to renew the memorandum of understanding with Chippa United was not a victory for his rivals, but rather a collective decision taken by the ANC caucus.
“It has nothing to do with me as an individual because it is a caucus decision that the deal is not sustainable. I do not know what informs this hullabaloo about a certain group winning the day.”
● Marata has thanked ANC councillors and branches that supported him through his troubled times.
Councillor Pumla Nazo-Makatala was acting in the position after Marata was demoted.
Mabuyane said the new PEC was happy Marata was finally reinstated. Pakati, who is also the ANC regional chairman, refused to comment on the Marata matter yesterday, saying briefly: “Deployment is an ANC matter.”