Johannesburg - Amid collapsing service delivery, the ANC in Johannesburg said mayor Mpho Phalatse should resign from her position. Otherwise, the municipality will collapse before Christmas.
Phalatse next week faces a motion of no confidence brought by the minority parties and supported by the ANC. The motion would serve as a second attempt to evict the DA out of the seat of power in Johannesburg.
The power merry-go-round in the municipality has seen politicians battling for control of the municipality, but services have taken a knock with the termination of a fleet contract causing disruptions in service delivery.
It had emerged that car rental company Avis had recalled 400 of its vehicles which were leased to the municipality because of the expiry of their contract with the municipality. The implications were that the Joburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) would not be able to adequately patrol the roads this festive season.
This was not the only service provider that was pulling out its services from the municipality, other businesses which had provided services, such as SMME’s were complaining of non-payment with some threatening legal action.
The Star understands that the problem could affect the municipal entities as well as the Johannesburg Emergency Services vehicles.
ANC spokesperson Chris Vondo said the DA was sinking the municipality and should step aside and hand over leadership to the ANC before further damage is done.
“Mayor Phalatse has failed to govern. She is not fit for purpose. There is no money, and there is no strategic plan that she has when the municipality is faced with the situation of not having money, she has failed to protect the revenue of the city in the context that the municipality is facing,” he said.
Vondo said Phalatse and the DA were delaying the inevitable by clinging to power. He said the DA did not have sufficient numbers to keep them at the helm of government in the city.
“They know they don’t have the numbers, they just love power, and if she really cared about the residents and the city of Johannesburg, she would do what is right and step down because Johannesburg is a very complex city to govern,” Vondo said.
He said Phalatse had crippled the municipality so badly that even administrators were failing to do their jobs. He said administrators suspected to be ANC aligned were purged, leaving a departments without personnel with institutional memory.
“All black execs have been purged, reports are not being brought to council, and some of these official are cleared by their own officials. They don’t fire them. There is no CFO. There is no city manager. It’s all a mess,” Vondo said.
The Star reached out to Phalatse’s spokesperson Mabine Seabe who said there would be a media statement sent out commenting on the motion of no confidence against the mayor.
The Star