Desperate bid to hang on to Tlokwe
TLOKWE municipality offices in North West are locked pending the outcome of a court case instituted by the ANC to remove new Democratic Alliance (DA) mayor Annette Combrinck.
Combrinck yesterday said the ANC had been locking the municipality building to make it difficult for her to access the mayoral office or sign important council documents.
“Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is that we can’t do anything constructive before the court case is completed, ” she said.
Combrinck said being locked out would not keep the DA from attending to the people’s needs.
She and other DA leaders, including national spokesman Mmusi Maimane, were in the area yesterday talking to members of the public about their problems and needs.
She said her first priority was to assist the poor and hasten service delivery.
The “lockout ” problem arose after ANC mayor, Maphetle Maphetle, was voted out of office during a council meeting last week.
ANC councillors joined forces with others from the opposition in a vote of no confidence to vote Maphetle out of office.
This led to the ANC expelling its councillors who voted with the opposition in defiance of a party directive.
The ANC, in a desperate bid to hold onto the municipality, has since opened a case to nullify the meeting in which Maphetle was voted out.
The matter will be heard in the Pretoria High Court in two weeks’ time.
Meanwhile, the ANC yesterday appointed six new councillors to replace those who were expelled for helping the Democratic Alliance unseat Maphetle.
ANC provincial chairman Supra Mahumapelo said: “We have now appointed disciplined cadres of the ANC and we are confident of winning the court case.”
Maimane said they were not interested in fighting with the ANC, and added that the worst that could happen would be the reinstatement of a corrupt mayor.
The DA’s provincial media manager, Tiaan Kotze, said the party was gaining steady support in the North West.