About 1 000 ANC members from eight wards in Mlungisi location in Komani marched to the Komani City Hall yesterday demanding that Bhisho drop plans to dissolve the embattled Enoch Mgijima municipality.
The crowd, which included the ANC caucus, marched from Mzingisi Skweyiya hall in Mlungisi to the city hall, carrying placards that read: “Administrator killed Inkwanca”, “Down with section 139”, “Stop Cogta stop Xasa”, “Give our mayor a chance to implement her plans”, “Administration is suicidal”, and “Hands off our mayor”.
The protesters praised mayor Sisisi Tolashe through songs while also demanding that cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) MEC Fikile Xasa should not place the municipality under administration.
Tolashe and her mayoral committee members joined the crowd at the city hall where ANC cluster coordinator Mxolisi Oliphant handed the memorandum of demands to Cogta official Nomini Ngcobo, who promised to send it to Xasa’s office.
Their march comes after Xasa informed the municipality that he was intending invoking section 139 of the constitution and appoint an administrator to run the daily affairs of the municipality.
Oliphant told the crowd that they were against Xasa’s plans.
“All the municipal structures are fully functional and there is visible political stability in the municipality,” he charged.
Last month, a DA-led march called for the municipality to be placed under administration.
Today, the party plans to lay criminal charges against Tolashe and two previous mayors.But Oliphant told the marchers yesterday that it was not all doom and gloom at the municipality.
“We will save the municipality from collapsing and falling into the hands of the opposition, and we will establish conditions under which our community can have easy access to the leadership of the municipality,” Oliphant said.
He contradicted himself though, saying the state of affairs had gone from bad to worse and fraud and corruption were the order of the day.
“Serious irregularities have been going on unabated.
“Political heads from outside the subregion have been deployed here, very much to the dismay of the entire community,” he said.
Oliphant blamed former mayors, whom he said “took turns in destroying the municipality”.
“Section 139 has not yielded any good results in the municipalities where it was implemented. In most instances, when the administrator leaves the problems come back,” said Oliphant.
He said Xasa should intervene by paying the municipality’s debts, which were inherited when Inkwanca, Tsolwana and Lukhanji municipalities were amalgamated in 2016...