Mathebe to step down as Sekhukhune mayor
Makhuduthamaga Local Municipality's mayor Minah Bahula, has been appointed as the acting chairperson for the ANC in Sekhukhune.
The Limpopo ANC has announced that the arrested mayor of Sekhukhune District Municipality (SDM), Julia Mathebe, will step aside from all party activities until she has cleared her name.
She was arrested on November 23 for her alleged role in the looting of the VBS Mutual Bank that left scores of people, mostly the poor, out of pocket in 2019.
Mathebe is also the regional party chairperson in Sekhukhune and the former mayor of Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality (EMLM). She and her former municipal manager, Minah Maredi, appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crime Court last week on charges of corruption and maladministration.
The EMLM had invested R190m with the bank in 2019.Their case has been postponed to March 3. The two are out on R30 000 bail.
The Sekhukhune ANC’s regional secretary, Tala Mathope, said the party was giving Mathebe space for her to attend to the court matter without any distraction. The ANC called upon all sectors of the society to respect her rights, of being innocent until proven otherwise by the competent court of law.
“Consequently, Mathebe will be stepping aside from her responsibilities of leadership and deployment as per the resolution of the 54th national conference and guidelines adopted by the national executive committee.”
On Saturday, Mathope confirmed Mathebe is also expected to step down as the SDM mayor within a period of eight days.
He said the mayor of the Makhuduthamaga Local Municipality, Minah Bahula, has been appointed as the acting chairperson for the ANC in Sekhukhune.
