“My resignation has been a long time coming.”
Freddy Greaver, speaking exclusively to Review last Wednesday afternoon, had a “business as usual” approach about him, markedly comfortable in the mayoral chair.
“At first, I stayed. I did it for the people.”
This time around, he says, his decision to resign brought some finality to a chapter which was at times, seemingly very frustrating. Now is the time for his family.
“I just got tired of all of this pursuing of Freddy Greaver. I am leaving. I could have stayed and allowed a propaganda machine to finish me off or could walk while I still have my name intact. There are people out to destroy me.”
Unshaken in his loyalty to the ANC, consistently using terms like “service delivery”, “clean governance” and “people”, Greaver concedes his time is up.
He relates many examples of efforts to undermine his leadership, his vision and decisions.
First there was the City Press report, which portrayed him as a member of a “Limpopo Mafia”.
(Greaver sued for defamation, settled the matter out of court, was awarded R100 000, an apology and right of reply).
More recently, it was alleged Greaver was working with a group referred to as the “Boko Haram” of Limpopo, a group with the sole objective of toppling the premier, Stanley Mathabatha.
“I have always been loyal to the ANC. I do not know who this group is, I never attended any of its meetings. I realised there are people who want to get rid of Freddy Greaver at all costs.”
I ask him why this would be the case. The answer comes straight as an arrow: “To get hold of resources”.
According to Greaver, some journalists helped to sow the seeds of his supposed dire ways, “in politics the ‘enemy’ is never static or stagnant”.
He remembers the time he first took up office in 2010.
“Of course there was a group loyal to the outgoing mayor. That I expected. The next phase was to destabilise the unions. In 2011 came the ‘Limpopo Mafia’ allegation. Then there was the Mangaung conference and internal PEC squabbles. The game changes the entire time.”
He maintains his unwavering willingness to serve as a loyal member of the ANC.
“Whatever I delivered to the city, I did as part of a collective. We may have been good for service delivery in Polokwane, but it is time for me to go. People are shooting holes in my persona.”
On Tuesday, tabling his resignation during a special council meeting, Greaver thanked the people of the city for the opportunity to lead from the front.
“If I could summarise my tenure as mayor, I would paint the city red in posters that read: ‘Thank you, ANC. Thank you, people of Polokwane.”
He quoted from a Charles Dickens novel, A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”.
Indeed it was.
• Charles Molepo, mayoral committee member for finance and economic development, was appointed acting mayor until Thembi Simelane-Nkadimeng whom the ANC confirmed as having been earmarked for the mayoral position, is officially elected in a council meeting.
