Scandal-hit Tshwane mayor 'woefully incapable' and must be fired, says EFF

The EFF’s Tshwane caucus on Monday submitted an urgent motion of no confidence against mayor Stevens Mokgalapa - and called on other political parties to support their bid for his removal.

This follows an audio clip - purportedly of Mokgalapa and roads and transport MMC Sheila Senkubuge discussing plans to fire government officials - emerging on social media on Sunday.

In a statement, EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said the city of Tshwane had been limping from one disaster to another since Mokgalapa took over as mayor. He said Mokgalapa's administration had proven incapable of solving the problems faced by the city's citizens.

“Our motion is premised on substantial and glaring failures by the executive mayor, including but not limited to ... an escalating water crisis in the city, more specifically at the water treatment plant in Rooiwaal which supplies water to Hammanskraal," said Ndlozi.

“The executive mayor publicly lied and said the water in the area is clean and fit for human consumption. The Human Sciences Research Council and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research later conducted an assessment of the water treatment plant and found the water unfit for human consumption.”

The EFF also accused Mokgalapa of “numerous deviations in the awarding of tenders to some companies”, thereby worsening the “fiscal and procurement management standards at the municipality, which is a continuation of a trend since the DA took over leadership of the municipality”.

Furthermore, Ndlozi said, Mokgalapa demonstrated no urgency to resolve power outages experienced by residents of Laudium, Atteridgeville, Mamelodi and Soshanguve.

“He does not seem to be interested in the government of the city at all, but rather is obsessed with the idea of being in power. We are therefore convinced that Mr Mokgalapa is woefully incapable of providing the leadership required for a complex metropolitan council such as Tshwane.”