The ANC in the North West has described the resignation of the newly appointed Ditsobotla Local Municipality Mayor, Itumeleng Lethoko, as unfortunate saying it happened because of the misunderstanding of the rules of procedures in council.
Lethoko, a Patriotic Alliance member, resigned a few hours after she was elected to the position in a council sitting on Monday night. She submitted her resignation letter to the newly-elected speaker Fikile Jakeni.
In a statement released on Monday, the PA said it is in full support of Lethoko’s decision to resign. “It would be unconscionable of her to have continued in this role following the display of blatant corruption in council today. She could not be complicit with such behaviour and not be asked to answer for it”.
But ANC Provincial Spokesperson Tumelo Maruping said Lethoko’s resignation was premature.
“The decision was based on misunderstanding of the rules of procedures in council and to a larger extent possible ulterior motives which as the organisation we may not have been privy to.
“The ANC strongly believes that this could have been avoided as the people of Ditsobotla urgently yearn for a stable council which will deliver basic services, including cementing a sense of political tolerance amongst all parties represented in council.
“The MEC of Cogta, empowered by Sec 154 of Municipal System Act, appointed /seconded Mr Mashigo who in fact is the Chief Director responsible for Municipal Support to take over administration of the municipality including presiding over the 1st sitting of council. An exercise which the incumbent delivered successfully until the Speaker was elected,”. added the spokesperson.
According to the Maruping, the secondment from Cogta was very clear that, the appointment stands active until the new council gets constituted, and/or on their own Accord, the council appoints a new accounting officer on an acting capacity from the directors or alternatively accept the secondment until the recruitment processes gets finalised.
Maruping said that the point which left the ANC astonished is the fact that Mashego presided over the council sitting until the speaker got elected, and at no point did any political party including the ANC’s coalition partner raise any concerns on the legal standing of the administrator or anything of some sort until the announcement towards adjournment of council.
“The ANC wishes to set the record straight that, the coalition agreement entered into with other political parties at a national level are based on principles of good government and the
ANC is committed to upholding those commitments.
“As the ANC we intend to engage our coalition partners to understand the root cause of their dissatisfaction. The ANC remains committed to the coalition agreement and where there are differences, they shall be processed internally, said Maruping.
Maruping dismissed allegations that the party wanted to appoint the municipal manager without following proper procedures, saying the accusations are baseless and there’s no truth in them.
“The council has the responsibility and the powers to appoint a person of their choice and following processes or due processes, so there’s no way the ANC can impose anybody to become either the Acting Municipal Manager or the Municipal Manager, ” stressed Maruping.
The municipality is still without a mayor, almost a month after holding by-elections. Last year, the Ditsobotla Local Municipality was dissolved by Parliament, following massive breaches and maladministration.
In the subsequent by-elections, the ANC lost its majority for the first time in the municipality, going from 51% to 39%. The ANC then entered into a coalition with the Patriotic Alliance, Forum for Service Delivery and African Heart Congress, which gave it 21 seats in the 40-seat council. The ANC council is currently meeting with the Patriotic Alliance to find a solution.
