The past two weeks have been eventful between the African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Johannesburg and Tshwane metros.
Former Joburg mayor Parks Tau was appointed as the chairperson of the SA Local Government Association (Salga)‚ a move lauded by the ANC in Joburg and the SA Municipal Workers Union.
A few days later‚ Tau’s successor‚ Herman Mashaba threw a quick jab at Tau when he announced that he does not support Salga and his city will be withdrawing financial support to this employer body.
Mashaba described Salga as a cadre deployment body for the ANC that has become top-heavy and wasteful in its spending. He said Salga had strayed from its mandate‚ which is to empower local government councillors and to act as their spokesperson in the national arena.
“That means that Salga must represent all local government councillors in a manner consistent with democracy‚” said Mashaba.
“Over the years‚ Salga has‚ in my view‚ strayed from its mandate. It has become bloated and top-heavy. It has spent too much money on nice-to-haves and on projects of dubious utility.”
Just as Salga was about to respond to his statement‚ the ANC in Joburg retaliated with another attack on Mashaba. The party filed a complaint of sexism with the Commission for Gender Equality against the Joburg mayor. It stemmed from comments attributed to Mashaba in the August 10 edition of The Star‚ in which he was quoted saying: “The days when they [ANC administration] allowed their girlfriends to run state institutions are over.”
The ANC in Joburg was joined by the Progressive Professionals Forum‚ Young Women for Business Network and the Black Management Forum.
But‚ on Thursday‚ the DA came back with a sucker-punch which made the party end the week ahead on points. Tshwane executive mayor Solly Msimanga invited journalists to the Pretoria city hall where he showed how his predecessors had squandered R100-million of taxpayers’ money trying to renovate this building.
The city hall is 80 years old and therefore its renovations need to comply with regulations of the Heritage Council of SA. However‚ the previous administration hired an incompetent contractor who messed up the hall leaving the city having to pay to get the job done properly. Kgosientso Ramokgopa‚ the previous mayor‚ had planned to house his senior staff at the hall. Msimanga has taken the forensic report‚ which was gathering dust in the Ramokgopa’s office‚ to the police for them to take action.
The ANC‚ however‚ is also not staying down. It wants to take action against Msimanga over the staff members the party says he has appointed illegally.
– TMG Digital
A blow-by-blow account of the ANC vs DA in Joburg and Tshwane
The past two weeks have been eventful between the African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Johannesburg and Tshwane metros.
Former Joburg mayor Parks Tau was appointed as the chairperson of the SA Local Government Association (Salga)‚ a move lauded by the ANC in Joburg and the SA Municipal Workers Union.
A few days later‚ Tau’s successor‚ Herman Mashaba threw a quick jab at Tau when he announced that he does not support Salga and his city will be withdrawing financial support to this employer body.
Mashaba described Salga as a cadre deployment body for the ANC that has become top-heavy and wasteful in its spending. He said Salga had strayed from its mandate‚ which is to empower local government councillors and to act as their spokesperson in the national arena.
“That means that Salga must represent all local government councillors in a manner consistent with democracy‚” said Mashaba.
“Over the years‚ Salga has‚ in my view‚ strayed from its mandate. It has become bloated and top-heavy. It has spent too much money on nice-to-haves and on projects of dubious utility.”
Just as Salga was about to respond to his statement‚ the ANC in Joburg retaliated with another attack on Mashaba. The party filed a complaint of sexism with the Commission for Gender Equality against the Joburg mayor. It stemmed from comments attributed to Mashaba in the August 10 edition of The Star‚ in which he was quoted saying: “The days when they [ANC administration] allowed their girlfriends to run state institutions are over.”
The ANC in Joburg was joined by the Progressive Professionals Forum‚ Young Women for Business Network and the Black Management Forum.
But‚ on Thursday‚ the DA came back with a sucker-punch which made the party end the week ahead on points. Tshwane executive mayor Solly Msimanga invited journalists to the Pretoria city hall where he showed how his predecessors had squandered R100-million of taxpayers’ money trying to renovate this building.
The city hall is 80 years old and therefore its renovations need to comply with regulations of the Heritage Council of SA. However‚ the previous administration hired an incompetent contractor who messed up the hall leaving the city having to pay to get the job done properly. Kgosientso Ramokgopa‚ the previous mayor‚ had planned to house his senior staff at the hall. Msimanga has taken the forensic report‚ which was gathering dust in the Ramokgopa’s office‚ to the police for them to take action.
The ANC‚ however‚ is also not staying down. It wants to take action against Msimanga over the staff members the party says he has appointed illegally.
– TMG Digital
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