Karen Venter
POLOKWANE – Sparks flew during a council meeting by the Polokwane Municipality last week, during a discussion as to the reasons behind residents’ unhappiness over incorrect utility bills.
Vryheids Front Plus Ward Councillor, Johan Willemse put it to the meeting that poor customer service by the Polokwane Municipality was a result of the ruling party’s “racist policy of Employment Equity”.
The Mayor, Thembi Nkadimeng demanded Willemse withdraw the comment and apologise, at which he replied that the House was “making it difficult for him to exercise his democratic right”.
Nkadimeng responded by saying Willemse was welcome to deliberate on any policy but could not say it was a racist ANC policy.
Willemse eventually withdrew the comment and continued to elaborate on the matter.
He said the personnel at the municipality are not qualified or not experienced to do their work. This, he said, was because “qualified white personnel had been done out of their jobs to make way for these people”.
Nkadimeng asked Willemse to specify the names of any personnel who had been “done out of their jobs”.
“I know of no such instances, and if they exist, they should come forward so that we can right such wrongs,” she added.
The remainder of the council meeting was taken up with routine matters, and also included the mayor once again outlining her plan to address residents’ account queries.
No mention was made of what will be done to address the current water supply problem the city is experiencing.
