By Thebe Mabanga
Ekurhuleni mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza’s woes look set to deepen as he now faces a legal challenge over his Motion of No Confidence claims.
His recent State of the City Address (SOCA), delivered just over a week ago, has also come under fire from political parties, including the EFF, a member of the governing coalition in the Metro.
Concerns have been raised, with one party even suggesting that the Metro could potentially be placed under administration.
Prior to delivering SOCA, Xhakaza alleged that the Motion of No Confidence was instigated by senior officials collaborating with councilors aiming to obstruct an investigation into electricity account manipulation, which reportedly cost the City R2 billion in revenue within a single quarter.
Dr. Joe Mojapelo, an Independent Citizen Movement (ICM) councilor who initiated the motion, confirmed to Inside Metro that he is pursuing legal action against the mayor.
“The claim that officials or those investigated for the R2 billion graft are behind the motion is completely false, and the mayor knows it,” said Mojapelo, who confirmed that he has now served the mayor with legal papers “demanding that he either provide substantive evidence to support his allegations or issue a public apology.”
Mojapelo maintains that “this motion is about the failure of leadership, not about any investigation.”
Mojapelo points out that correspondence around the Motion of No Confidence dates back to October last year.
Palesa Yates, the councilor from the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), who seconded the motion, also denied working with officials, pointing out that until the matter was brought to council, they did not even know which officials were under investigation.
Xhakaza’s spokesperson Zweli Dlamini did not confirm receipt of legal papers by Wednesday.
The investigation into the R 2 billion revenue shortfall, allegedly caused by officials tampering with 1600 electricity accounts to illegally write off arrears for instance, was unanimously approved by council on 27 February, with calls for the Auditor General, rather than the City’s internal audit department, to conduct the investigation.
Mojapelo was not impressed by the mayor’s address either.
“The mayor’s address was nothing more than a recycled version of his maiden speech last year,” said Mojapelo, who pointed out that Xhakaza “spoke about the same six pillars,” yet a year later, there’s been no real progress, only further decline.
“The state of Ekurhuleni isn’t something that needs to be explained in a speech; ward councilors and residents experience it first-hand every day.” said Mojapelo.
He further argued that “service delivery has collapsed. The city is dark, dirty, and decaying,” pointing out problems with refuse collection, potholes, malfunctioning streetlights as well as electricity and water supply.
The parties also point to the state of the Metro’s finances, which they described as being in crisis, starting with cash at hand running at 10 days during the month of December instead of the full month recommended by Treasury.
“Under mayor Xhakaza, we’ve hit a new low, and if we continue this trajectory, Ekurhuleni will either collapse entirely or be placed under administration within the next 12 months,” said Mojapelo.
The Motion of No Confidence states that “the city urgently requires a capable and visionary Executive Mayor, who prioritises good governance, financial prudence and strategic leadership to steer the city towards sustainable growth and development”.
The Democratic Alliance (DA), responding through its caucus leader councilor Brendan Pretorius said: “The DA exposes the True State of the City while the Executive lives in a dream” while referring to both speaker Nthabiseng Tshivenga and Xhakaza as “outgoing”.
Pretorius then stated: “You seem to have lost not only R2 billion, but your sense of bearing too, on one of the numerous overseas trips you’ve been taking,”
He added: “Your hollow words not only highlight how out of touch with reality you are, but it reiterates how out of touch you are with the plight of the residents of Ekurhuleni.”
Pretorius critiqued each of the six pillars, listing a litany of service delivery failures, including a fire station that functions at 30 % capacity and water delivery challenges before declaring: “We are neither an efficient, nor effective city.”
Fanyana Nkosi, DA councilor and spokesperson on Finance, said the mayor should be held liable for the R2 billion revenue shortfall from the first quarter of the current financial year and questioned why the Motion of No Confidence was not tabled at the meeting that had a response to SOCA.
He pointed out that the city’s precarious financial position means that Small Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) are owed R 1,7 billion for more than 60 days.
He noted that this means that residents of Tembisa have not had their chemical toilets serviced, which affects the poorest of the poor while in Kwa Thema, a sport complex facility building project with R3,4 million of the R12,5 million budget unaccounted for and very little of the work completed.
Nkosi also pointed out a Municipal Public Accounts Committe probe into Irregular, Wasteful and Fruitless expenditure across seven departments, in one instance amounting to R124 million.
Councilor Philip Dolo of Action SA said the mayor “must prioritise implementation,” starting with the R2 billion revenue shortfall but also focusing on electricity and water supply, refuse collection and grass cutting, the fast tracking of human settlements and holding contractors accountable.
The EFF made its feelings known ahead of the address, staging a protest with placards highlighting service delivery challenges ahead of Soca in the presence of invited guests.
Ekurhuleni is governed by a coalition comprising the ANC, the EFF, and a group of seven smaller parties known as the “Super 7,” represented by former mayor and African Independent Congress (AIC) councilor Sivuyile Ngodwana, who was unavailable for comment on Wednesday.
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