Pretoria - Former executive mayor of Joburg Mpho Moerane remains unconscious in hospital, and his family is distraught.
Family spokesperson Mike Maile told journalists gathered outside the Netcare Milpark Hospital that the widespread rumours circulated on social media, claiming that the former mayor has died, are causing pain to the family.
“All I can say is that comrade Mpho is not conscious at the moment. However, I cannot go into details of his illness, and that is all I can say,” said Maile, who was flanked by fellow African National Congress members, including former Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina.
“As you can imagine, the family is distraught. I do not think anybody should ever go through what the family is going through. The rumours, once again, are not making things easier for them.”
There have been rumours that medical staff attending to the politician had indicted to the family that he would not be able to make it.
Maile said the claims were false. He said the hospital staff could be responsible for the rumours.
“I point the finger at you, the journalists and your sources inside the hospital. In fact, some of the journalists have said to me, our source in the hospital has said, one, two, three. So, unfortunately, I think there has been unprofessionalism on the part of the hospital staff. Our suspicion is that they are the source of the rumour. They speak to journalists, and that is how the rumours spread,” he said.
“That is the only source that we can think of.”
The ANC in Johannesburg last week postponed its regional elective conference, which was scheduled for this weekend. The conference will now be held at the end of May.
The conference was postponed due to ongoing disputes at various branches in the region.
The postponement of the regional conference was announced after Moerane, who is one of the contenders for the post of regional chair, was involved in the car crash. Moerane is set to contest for the position of party leader position in the elective conference.
In the past few months, the ANC has lost two mayors who both died after ascending to the mayorship position.
The first one was Geoff Makhubo, who died in the middle of last year due to complications related to Covid-19. The second one was Jolidee Matongo, who died in a car accident after spending the day campaigning with President Cyril Ramaphosa in Soweto.
Matongo’s death came a few weeks after Makhubo’s. Moerane was the next mayor, but his reign did not last long because of the short amount of time he had before the 2021 local government elections.
IOL