Cope urges community to vote the ANC out of Thaba Chweu

LYDENBURG – It is disturbing to hear allegations that the Thaba Chweu municipality is in the red financially so much that it is said to be having a mere R53 000.

COPE in Mpumalanga finds these allegations disturbing because this municipality has been in and out of trouble on many occasions at the expense of service delivery.

said Cope’s provincial secretary, Mr Sizile Ndlovu: “We challenge the municipality to prove us wrong and explain that it is not in tatters financially because even the provincial government has sent a team of officials to intervene in the municipality’s problems that have gone too far.

“Since the beginning of democracy, there has never been anything good that Thaba Chweu municipality was ever been reported to have done. It has plunged from one chaotic situation to another and this resulted in the municipality being hit by service delivery protests over the years, some of which cost people their lives and which left a library, municipal buildings, vehicles as well as other items damaged.

“It is sad to remember that this particular municipality had been put under administration on at least two occasions before, and we believe the intervention by the provincial government is just short of saying the municipality has been put under triple administration.

“COPE has also learned that Eskom has threatened to cut the municipality’s electricity, a move that may leave communities and businesses in the dark therefore affecting the economic activities of the area.

“It is high time that the people of Thaba Chweu voted the ANC out of the municipality because it has always failed them. There are many problems that affect the community in this municipality and they can no longer be tolerated,” said Ndlovu.

He also reiterated that at some stage millions of rands disappeared from the municipality’s bank account and this was proved to have resulted from pure theft and fraud.