Tshwane council quarrel over mayor’s stance on alcohol ban

EFF and some of ANC councillors slammed the Tshwane mayor Randall Williams for his stance on the lifting of the alcohol ban.

Williams held a virtual council meeting on Thursday, saying Covid-19 cases decreased in the metro over the past week. In his opening remarks, he said he believed that it was time for consideration of the reopening of the economy, including the alcohol sector.

“I believe it is crucial that we take a strong stance on this. Continued restrictions on the sale of alcohol affect multiple stakeholders in a value chain that spans and affects thousands of jobs in this country, this includes farmers, logistic companies and manufactures.

“We must ensure we operate efficiently, in the face of Covid-19,” he said.

It was this that left the mayor in hot water, receiving backlash from the opposition parties.

Tshwane EFF leader MoAfrika Mabogwane said the mayor was reckless and did not “consider” the impact of alcohol on the hospitals’ capacity.

“We want to condemn the mayor’s reckless and senseless remarks about alcohol and warn the mayor that he must not be too excited.

“The hospitals in Tshwane are extremely full and, therefore, encouraging the reopening of alcohol when the frontline workers have confirmed that work becomes overwhelming because of alcohol is irresponsible,” Mabongwane said.

READ MORE: Calls for government to unban alcohol sales intensifies

Mabongwane called for the mayor to withdraw his remarks. He was seconded by ANC councillors.

ANC Kgosi Maepa said William’s comments on regulations were a misrepresentation of the council.

“We are not in opposition with the national command council or the president. Covid-19 is ravaging in our country and people are passing on – we want to call for the mayor to withdraw the statements. Alcohol is not allowed and will cause distractions.”

Williams did not apologise nor withdraw his opening statements at the council.

“Before Covid-19 the economy was in recession, in Tshwane about 60% of youth are not employed. Closing the economy and having a one-sided approach is not good for this country and the metro.

“What I asked for was the opening of the economy, the retail, manufacturers and restaurants. All these businesses are closing, who will provide jobs for people?”

Moving on to other matters affecting the metro, Williams said the metro was “systematically addressing the backlog, in service delivery such as that of potholes and streetlights”.

“The finance department is slowly on the road to recovery. At the end of December, we have made significant progress on the spending of the capital budget that was well on target.

“This is encouraging as our capital budget is a core driver of economic growth in the metro as it drives infrastructure development,” Williams said.

Councillors also debated the public participation integrated plan for 2021/2026 set to address ways of participation during Covid-19 times.

Councillor Nozipho Makeke said the residents of the metro were robbed of the opportunity to discuss issues way before Covid-19.

“The four years of the DA rule have been characterised by maladministration and public participation has been withheld and now has been pinned on Covid-19.”

Meanwhile, EFF’s Maleboneng Masoleng encouraged the use of the online platform for public participation. She said the online platform would also limit the use of paper and assist in addressing issues of climate change.

Land issues were also at the heart of council matters on Thursday.

Several reports of land use in several parts of Tshwane were approved, including utilisation of various stands in Atteridgeville for residential purposes and also included the formalisation of informal settlements.

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