Tshwane mayor Stevens Mokgalapa, Picture: Deaan Vivier
According to the DA, claims by the ANC that Tshwane mayor Stevens Mokgalapa will soon be axed by the DA as a party member are false.
DA Gauteng leader John Moodey said that the results of the investigation into the embattled mayor were complete and the results would be presented to the party’s federal executive later in January.
This does not rule out the possibility that the recommendation will indeed be for him to be fired, with the ANC’s Tshwane chairperson, Kgosi Mapea, claiming their sources in the DA told them that DA federal executive chairperson Helen Zille wants him removed and even his membership terminated.
Moodey called such premature speculation by Maepa “fake news”.
Mokgalapa was placed on special leave in November pending an investigation into his conduct after an audio recording of him and former MMC Sheila Senkubuge surfaced. The pair were heard gossiping about party officials and were accused of having an inappropriate romantic relationship.
Mokgalapa is facing another no-confidence vote on Thursday after an initial vote against him in December was overturned by the High Court in Pretoria.
In December, the EFF and ANC celebrated the apparent ousting of Mokgalapa along with speaker Katlego Mathebe through a vote of no confidence after numerous delays. Abel Tau was appointed as acting mayor.
The DA then took the matter to court, claiming the processes council had followed were flawed. It later won its bid to hold on to the metro, if only temporarily, after the High Court ruled that all decisions made at the December council sitting be set aside pending the outcome of an urgent review of the proceedings.
Maepa also said this week during a briefing that the ANC was informed of divisions between white and black DA caucus members, who could not decide on whether to fire or keep Mokgalapa.
(Compiled by Gopolang Moloko and Charles Cilliers)
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