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Ekurhuleni ActionSA spearheads bid to remove mayor Sivuyile Ngodwana
The ANC in Ekurhuleni will go through a consultative process to remove the proxy mayor born out of the ANC-EFF agreement in Gauteng.
Action SA in Ekurhuleni says it has gathered enough support to ensure that the current mayor of Ekurhuleni is removed from the mayoral seat on Thursday.
According to its caucus leader Siyanda Makhubo ActionSA has managed to convince the ANC, DA, IFP and other smaller parties to vote in favour of removing council mayor Sivuyile Ngodwana, who is from the AIC.
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ActionSA gathers strength to remove Ekurhuleni mayor
“We have the numbers. We have been consulting with political parties. All parties in council are of the view that there is good enough reason for this motion to pass. They have expressed their frustration with regards to service delivery including the ANC, DA and Super 7,” Makhubo said
ActionSA placed a motion against the mayor after it became apparent to the party that service delivery in the City of Ekurhuleni had collapsed.
Waste collection crisis in Ekurhuleni
Makhubo said service delivery was so bad that the municipality was unable to even cut grass in cemeteries because they were unable to pay service providers.
“What we have discovered is that the City’s finances have been mismanaged. They are basically getting money from treasury and rates and taxes and then paying Peter to Pay Tom. They are unable to pay service providers such as [for] waste [management]. And, if you cannot pay for waste removal [then] it is clear that services have collapsed,” he said.
According to Makhubo the EFF-ANC coalition in the City of Ekurhuleni has failed residents. He said City was experiencing financial problems with some reports indicating the poor state of affairs being hidden from council.
“They are hiding crucial reports and of course this is election year and they do no want to look bad,” he said.
Ekurhuleni motion to affect Johanneburg
Makhubo said if Ngodwana is removed that impact would be felt in other municipalities where the EFF and ANC co-govern which include the City of Johannesburg.
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Makhubo said matters were so bad in the municipality that the MEC for Corporative Governance and Traditional Affairs in Gauteng had threatened to place the City of Ekurhuleni under administration.
The Citizen contacted the ANC in Ekurhuleni for comment on the motion but the party declined to comment until further engagements had been made with national and provincial structures.
Despite this, the ANC in Ekurhuleni has been vocal about not being happy with the EFF-ANC coalitions in Gauteng which have resulted in proxy mayors.