DA ward 91 councillor, Johann Jordaan, has denied claims of incompetence made against him in a petition that will be handed in at the council meeting today.
The petition, which was initiated by ANC PR councillor for ward 91, Makhosazane Dhladhla-Mavundla, makes various claims of incompetence and to some extent corruption, against Jordaan.
According to Dhladhla-Mavundla, the petition has over 100 signatures from the community.
“I welcome the petition by Clr Dhladhla and express my support for her democratic right to do so. Although the correct democratic way to express dissatisfaction with a public representative is through the ballot, it is also her democratic right to do such a petition,” he said.
“I do not understand what she is trying to achieve but of more importance is that she has her facts correctly conveyed.”
This, Jordaan explained, was with regards to the various accusations made against him by Dhladhla-Mavundla, which include using the Esselen Park RDP houses electrification project as a means of campaigning for the DA during national elections; hiring 15 DA members privately, instead of having an open meeting where the public is invited to apply for the job positions and be involved in the project; and hiring the communications liaison officer (CLO) for the electrification project, Moafrica Mohlakwane, privately, instead of involving the community.
Dhladhla-Mavundla said: “Jordaan never communicated with residents about the project. The project required that 15 residents of Esselen Park be hired under the project as a way of job creation. It was Jordaan’s duty to make an announcement about this and invite community members to apply for the positions, which he never did.
“Instead, he privately hired 15 DA members from the community.”
This Jordaan denies strongly. “I have at no stage use the electrification project as a means to campaign for the DA. It was, however, the ANC MMC for Energy that has, in contravention of inter alai the Electoral Act, used the project for campaigning purposes by calling for a public project launch meeting on the evening before the national elections on May 7.
“This was two weeks after the project had started. He had chosen to ignore prior requests by residents to give feedback on the electrification of the area,” Jordaan said.
“This matter had been referred to the Public Protector and Auditor General’s office for investigation.
“The community of Esselen Park ext 3 moved into the area in August 2011. In contravention to town planning by-laws, there were no tar roads or electricity. The area was also not proclaimed, which is still the case today,” Jordaan said.
“In early 2012, as no answers were forthcoming from the ANC-led municipality about when electricity would be provided to the RDP homes, I initiated and assisted residents with a petition for electricity, which was submitted to council.”
In October 2012, Jordaan was informed by the MMC for water and energy that electrification would commence in July 2013. During this time, various follow up requests were made by Jordaan to find out when electrification would start, to no avail.
“Eventually, on April 11, 2014, I was informed the project would commence. I was invited to an introductory meeting with the different role players which took place on the same day in Esselen Park Ext 3. I immediately informed the community that same afternoon.”
Dhladhla-Mavundla’s claim that Mohlakwane was hired wrongfully, Jordaan said it was not true. The same afternoon when he informed the community about the project, he also informed them about nominations for a CLO as requested by the contractor.
“I left the meeting as the community decided to have a follow-up meeting on the Sunday. Feedback I got from residents was that Mohlakwane was identified to be CLO for the project. Based on this feedback, I recommended him as the community’s choice and the contractor appointed him.”
Regarding claims of him hiring 15 DA members privately, Jordaan said: “The contractor asked Mohlakwane for names of general labourers and a public meeting was called. Mohlakwane asked residents to identify people and forward names to him, which he then forwarded to the contractor. The contractor, according to its own decision, appointed the workers it needed.”
According to Dhladhla-Mavundla, Jordaan was questioned about the selection of a CLO and DA members hired but he gave no answers and walked out of the meeting.
“During a project meeting on May 15, Jordaan was questioned about the selection of Mohlakwane and the employees but instead of giving us honest answers, he became angry and stormed out, claiming we were not permitted to ask him such questions.”
Jordaan said he did not walk out but left early as he had another meeting. “If the councillor was on time, she would have heard that I apologised to the chairman at the beginning of the meeting that I had to leave early.
“During the site meeting she raised the matter of the appointments of the general workers. I asked Mohlakwane for clarity and he gave the same information to the meeting as above.
“It was not for me to interfere with the decisions of the private contractor, which would have contravened the Code of Conduct for Councillors and the Separation of Powers of Council.”
Finally, the petition also accuses Jordaan of inefficient service delivery. Jordaan said he had sent various complaints to the municipality regarding various service delivery issues in Esselen Park. He added unfortunately, as a councillor, he did not have the executive powers to give instruction to municipal officials.
Needs Clr Johann Jordaan has listed on the IDP on behalf of the community:
Clinic and community centre in Birch Acres ext 23-44;
Pedestrian bridge across the busy and dangerous Andrew Mapheto Drive between Birch Acres and Sophia Town;
Upgrade of Birchleigh North Clinic to accommodate the growing influx of patients;
Clinic and community centre in Esselen Park ext 3;
Although a provincial government responsibility, schools for the community in Birch Acres ext 23-44.
Dhladhla-Mavundla addresses community meeting in her ANC attire
