Sol Plaatje must turn streetlights on for festive season
| by Grantham Steenkamp, MPL – DA Northern Cape Spokesperson of COGHSTA |
| Date: 21 August 2020 |
| Release: Immediate |
| Note to Editors: Please find attached soundbites in English & Afrikaans from Grantham Steenkamp, MPL. The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape is calling on COGHSTA MEC, Bentley Vass, to pull the Sol Plaatje Section 106 report out from under the rug and ensure that it is dealt with once and for all, or prepare for the looming collapse of the province’s capital municipality.The DA’s renewed call for the controversial report to be concluded on, comes after the Executive Mayor, Patrick Mabilo, last week told the legislature’s portfolio committee on COGHSTA that he wasn’t sure whether any criminal charges had been laid in respect of the report.The DA is dumbfounded by Mabilo’s ignorance in respect of the report.The Section 106 report lies at the very heart of the municipality’s downfall. It exposes shocking details of alleged corruption relating to Chief Financial Officer, Lydia Mahloko, as well as the dire inaction by Municipal Manager, Goolam Akharwaray, both of whom were subsequently suspended. To date, the duo have already been on suspension with full pay, for two years and counting.In the meantime, Sol Plaatje has been under the management of about five different acting municipal managers and chief financial officers. Given that these are the two most important positions in any municipality, this has led to high levels of instability that have seriously impacted on the municipality’s viability.There can be no denying that Sol Plaatje municipality’s failure to move beyond the Section 106 report, and its inability to resolve the suspensions of Mahloko and Akharwaray, have thrown the municipality in a state of limbo. This has aggravated the deterioration of Kimberley including its roads, its sewerage network, its water system and other services. It has also compromised the municipality’s ability to continue as a going concern.Despite previous pleas to MEC Vass to ensure that the report is dealt with, the ANC continues to deny the report’s very existence. The DA reiterates our call to Vass to take a stand on this matter. We have also raised the matter in the COGHSTA portfolio committee and continue to wait for a response in this regard.If the ANC government chooses to stick its head in the sand any longer, it will fail to restore stability to the province’s biggest municipality and ultimately fail the people of Kimberley. |
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