Mashaba digs up ‘dirt’ on ‘ringleaders’ of Alexandra protests
The Johannesburg mayor feels it's no coincidence that some of those at the forefront of the shutdown will be losing a contract in the township soon.
Herman Mashaba at the Marlboro Community Centre, where he was booed off stage by a group of Alexandra residents. Picture: Tracy Lee Stark
In a statement on Wednesday morning, Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba has accused two of the frontline organisers of ongoing protest action in the township of Alexandra of undermining him in an attempt to derail efforts to investigate and make them accountable for questionable former deals with the city.
He and his party, the DA, have accused the ANC of having hijacked the “legitimate grievances” of Alexandra residents in an attempt to both influence the upcoming election and otherwise advance ANC interests.
Mashaba has repeatedly raised critical questions about how funds that were meant to be invested in Alexandra through the Alexandra Renewal Project (ARP) were used or misused by the previous ANC administration.
The mayor was not given a chance to address community members on Monday evening due to being booed off stage.
In his statement, he said a forensic investigation had found “alarming information” about the “vested interests” of “#AlexShutDown leaders”.
He accused them of being directors of companies that had benefited from contracts awarded through the ARP, which had continued running until this year, but without an evident explanation why.
In February, the City of Johannesburg gave notice that a community liaison service contract provided by the Ditlodi Community Development Cooperative would not be extended, due to provincial government no longer funding it. It was therefore to come to an end in June.
“The directors of this company include none other than Sandile Mavundla, the ringleader of the #AlexShutDown movement, and Tefo Raphadu, the ANC councillor,” said Mashaba.
He said the only explanation for this company still receiving money in 2019 for the ARP, which “ground to a halt in 2006”, was that it was politically connected.
This article will be updated with response from the ANC to the allegations, as well as Mavundla and Raphadu, once received.
Last week, I committed to an investigation into the Alexandra Renewal Project and why it had failed to address challenges in Alex. As part of that, it appears some leaders within the protest were only in it to protect their own interests. pic.twitter.com/F1FAzSOSZP
— Herman Mashaba (@HermanMashaba) April 17, 2019
(Edited by Charles Cilliers)
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