ANC appoints a new chief whip ‘... we will no longer sit back and watch how our municipality is run into the ground ...’

THE ANNOUNCEMENT at this week’s Sol Plaatje City Council meeting of the appointment of a new ANC chief whip, Winter Keetile, who replaces Charles Ngoma, was, according to the party, derived from a properly constituted caucus of the ANC branches.

At a press statement issued yesterday by the branches of the ANC Sol Plaatje Sub-region, it was stated that a recent newspaper article had alleged that ANC branch members in the Frances Baard region were shocked when the regional chairperson, Mangaliso Matika, ordered the removal of Ngoma as ANC chief whip at the Sol Plaatje Municipality.

“As branches, we categorically state that the mandate for the removal of the chief whip was derived from a properly constituted caucus of the ANC branches.”

The reason given for the decision to replace the chief whip was due to constant complaints and a recent protest in Ward 8 where Ngoma is the ward councillor.

“It was decided that he should focus on service delivery matters in his ward to make sure that there is no social distance between the ANC and the community,” it was stated at the press conference.

The sub-region branches further reiterated their support for the Regional Executive Committee under the leadership of Matika, “who was elected in a properly constituted regional conference”.

“We further note that there are faceless people who claim that they have the support of branches. We do not support any individual but the collective ANC. We would like to call on anyone who wants to sow divisions amongst the branches to desist from doing so and engage their dissatisfaction at the proper platform; stop running to the media; and not deliberately mislead the public by their malicious and unfounded statements.”

The statement added that as ANC branches intensified service delivery after hosting a successful 108 birthday celebration of the movement, it was noted “with utter disgust and dismay the daily deterioration of the state of the Sol Plaatje Municipality”.

“As branches in the Sol Plaatje Sub-region, we have convened a meeting to discuss challenges within the municipality and have come to a conclusion and agreed that we will no longer sit back and watch how our municipality is run into the ground.”

Among the issues raised was the lack of service delivery, highlighted during visits by President Cyril Ramaphosa and members of the National Executive Committee of the party, to several areas within the Sol Plaatje jurisdiction.

“They were shocked with the state of our sewerage system, pathetic roads, and the dirtiness of our town. They concluded their visit with instructions that service delivery needs to be improved. As the basic structure of the ABC we took note of the concerns and agreed to ameliorate the situation,” the statement said.

In conclusion, the branches added that if there were individuals “who have the ambition to lead branches or the region they should wait for the proper processes of the ANC to unfold, and not run branches in the media”.