Own goal by ANC in its haste to see off fired trio

IN its haste to see off octogenarian mayor Benson Fihla, his deputy, Chippa Ngcolomba, and erstwhile chief whip Joy Seale, the ANC has created a situation that has allowed the metro to slip even further down the hole it has dug for itself over a number of years. The sacking of the three incumbents has embarrassingly left the city with a total leadership vacuum as the mayoral committee has automatically been disbanded as a consequence of the dismissals.

Coupled to this is the confusion around whether Danny Jordaan will be legally able to take on his new position as legislation currently prevents any full-time councillor from occupying any other paying position. To further complicate matters is the clause within Safa's own constitution which specifically precludes being involved in political activity.

Finally there is the internal conflict which, we have reliably learnt, is at an all time high with a significant faction apparently very unhappy with the dismissals. The net result of this leaves the ANC with the challenge of being able to convene a council sitting with the necessary quorum of 50% plus one of the full number of councillors to hold an election and the big question, of whether all councillors from the governing party will toe the line in voting in the new reserves.

It is therefore a concerning reality that, for the first time, we are sitting with a total leadership vacuum within our metro. This represents a status quo that could last anything from a few days, if the ANC is lucky, to weeks. The subsequent fall-out and embarrassment caused to our city image is all on the ruling party, that continues to fail the residents of our metro in being patently unable to provide the stability, leadership and direction that the institution requires.

This is not a good story to tell.