Amahlathi mayor shown the door after weeks of protests
Amahlathi Municipality mayor Pateka Qaba has been fired by the Eastern Cape ANC leadership following a month-long protest siege at the municipality’s headquarters in Stutterheim.
The sacking comes amid a wave of rolling community protests in Stutterheim over serious allegations of nepotism, corruption and fraud against the council. Some of the allegations were that the Cathcart-born Qaba was giving tenders to entrepreneurs of her hometown and that some councillors were hiring relatives and selling jobs. The sacking was announced by the party on Wednesday night following a meeting between the party's provincial executive committee (PEC) officials and PEC deployees with Amathole regional executive committee officials and a crisis committee which was tasked to resolve the impasse. The party also resolved to dissolve the council.
Eastern Cape ANC spokesperson Gift Ngqondi said Qaba's replacement will be announced at a later stage. Ngqondi also announced that a forensic investigation was under way over the allegations of malpractices, fraud and corruption levelled by community members against Qaba and her council.
“We wish that the investigation may be fast-tracked and be concluded as soon as possible. The meeting resolved that an intergovernmental task team be formed to deal with the petition which, in the main, is a reflection of community demands,” said Ngqondi...
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