‘ANC’s obsession with power in Tshwane backfiring’ – analyst

The North Gauteng High Court’s ruling reversing the dissolution of the DA-led Tshwane Metro Council has exposed the flaws in the ANC’s obsession with unseating the DA where it was in power by any means necessary, according to an analyst.

The analyst, Professor Lesiba Teffo, said the fact that the ruling ANC lost the matter was proof that its political obsession was backfiring.

The ruling favoured the DA’s application for the court to overturn the Section 139 intervention imposed by the Gauteng government. The decision effectively reversed the council dissolution and declared it unlawful.

Reacting to the judgement, Teffo said the behaviour of Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance, Lebogang Maile, in the case of Tshwane left much to be desired. He said Maile’s obsession in trying to unseat the DA there caused him to act recklessly.

“If we have people like him, there is no hope for this country. Where is the future of the country when a young fellow like that behaves so badly on a serious legal matter of that nature? That’s why African countries do not succeed – people at the top are always about themselves. In Africa it’s always not about the country or the people, but about themselves as leaders,” Teffo said.

The analyst said the fact that the ANC lost the matter in court at least three times in the past, should have sent a clear message to them that they had no case and attempting to unseat the DA in the metro was a futile exercise.

He highlighted the contradiction in the EFF’s decision to side with the ANC in trying to remove the DA in Tshwane, when it opposed the same ANC in the City of Johannesburg Council.

The fact that the EFF flip-flopped between the ANC and the DA at the Tshwane, City of Johannesburg, and Nelson Mandela Bay metros demonstrated the young party’s lack of backbone and commitment to serving the people. However, he said it was not surprising in Tshwane, because the EFF lost after it stood to benefit from a tender that the DA had since reversed.

On Thursday, DA councillor and former mayoral candidate in Tshwane, Randall Williams, said the court ruling had vindicated the DA’s efforts to ensure the truth prevailed in the fight to stabilise the City. He said now that all the councillors had been legally reinstated it was critical that the work should begin to stabilise the leadership in the city.

“The Democratic Alliance (DA) councillors in Tshwane are ready to carry on serving their residents,” he said.

The DA had instructed its Council Speaker Katlego Mathebe to begin making the necessary arrangements to facilitate a council meeting in line with the government regulations relating to preventing the spread of the coronavirus. Chief Whip of Council Christo Van Den Heever was preparing to hold a multi-party whippery meeting with all the different political parties in council.

“The DA will be reaching out to current Head Administrator Mpho Nawa to engage on the work that is being done in the City, particularly as it pertains to the preparations and programmes that have been introduced to contain the spread of the coronavirus,” Williams said.

Maile’s spokesperson, Castro Ngobese, was not available for comment and did not respond to a Whatsapp query sent to him.

– ericn@citizen.co.za

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