Tshwane administrator to be appointed within 7 days, elections in 3 months

Maile and Gauteng Premier David Makhura held a media briefing on Thursday to announce that the provincial council would dissolve the metro’s council and place it under administration.

Invoking Section 139(1)(c) of the Constitution, Makhura said fresh elections for a new council would take place within 90 days.

Maile has been at odds with the DA-led administration in Tshwane ever since he made known his intention to intervene last year.

Things were brought to a head last week when the council failed to appoint a new mayor following Stevens Mokgalapa’s last day in office, placing it at risk of dissolution because it failed to pass its adjustment budgets by the end of February 2020.

Mokgalapa resigned after his own party gave him an ultimatum. He had been on suspension after an audio clip was leaked of him engaging in an apparent intimate act with former roads and transport MMC Sheila Senkubuge.

He was appointed in 2019 ahead of the national polls in a bid, by the DA, to stabilise the municipality following the resignation of Solly Msimanga.

Msimanga also resigned with a cloud over his head, which included allegations of the irregular awarding of a multibillion-rand contract to GladAfrica.

He said the decision was only taken on Wednesday, adding that the executive council would include national Cogta Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zulu, the speaker of the legislature and the chairperson of the National Council of Provinces.

“In how we have dealt in the DA-led municipalities, we have been very lenient, very cautious and we have been driven by the spirit of cooperative governance, inter-governmental relations, and we have been interested in service delivery more than party politics, and we have avoided to put party politics first,” he said.

Maile intended to meet the City of Tshwane’s senior managers on Saturday to craft a programme for service delivery, he said.

He added that in seven days, he would announce a clear programme and unveil the administrator appointed, with the help of Cogta.

“We are going to put a team [together] which will be multi-skilled and multi-disciplinary. It’s going to be experienced, seasoned administrators. We are going to look at all the areas of weaknesses.

This, he said, would include qualified engineers, procurement specialists and accountants.

He added that he would give the administrators targets based on the capacity of the metro as well as the department’s capacity.

“We are not just going to appoint people and say go in and see what you can do. We are going to tell them there is an issue of waste collection, this is what you going to do. We will come to you with a comprehensive plan.”

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