In the last six months, Mogale City has had two Executive Mayors – Lynn Pannall and Michael Holenstein. During the same period, the City has changed the Speaker and Chief Whip positions, three times – from Patrick Lipuli and Sipho Dube to Jacques Hoon and Ernest Modise, and back to Lipuli and Dube. And there is a possibility that the latter positions may soon change again. This sounds like fiction but it’s a true story.
The situation in the Mogale City Council is not an ideal one. As a matter of fact, it is complex. Adding to the problem is the fact that the governing parties and opposition party are not prepared to compromise for the sake of taking the city forward.
The problem in Mogale City is the power struggle between the DA-led coalition and the ANC. The DA wants to take over the Speaker and Chief Whip positions, which are in the hands of the ANC. On the other hand, the ANC desperately wants to retain the City it has governed for more than twenty years. And unfortunately, service delivery has taken a back seat.
Since the local government elections, the Executive Mayor has yet to pronounce his goals for the next hundred days. Not only that, the Integrated Development Programme (IDP) roadshows are yet to be conducted by the Council. Under the circumstances, it’s understandable.
But the concern is that nothing has been communicated to the citizens by the Council regarding the abovementioned issues. The Council is yet to explain to us why it has not conducted the IDP roadshows, as mandated by law.
The unfortunate part in all this is that we as residents can’t do anything. We are forced to watch our leaders, whom we have entrusted with our precious votes, fighting for power. The political system has reduced us to spectators in the game we’re supposed to be playing.
