Note to Editors: Please find attached the letter to the Speaker of Mogale City Council here
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mogale City is deeply concerned with the expansion of the failing Mogale City executive, adding a new Deputy Executive Mayor role, and the City must reverse this.
The IFP has now joined the executive in Mogale City, as the new Deputy Executive Mayor, supported by the ANC and EFF in council.
Already unable to run the municipality effectively, Executive Mayor, Cllr Lucky Sele, felt it necessary to further bloat an already ineffective executive.
Most problematic though, is the way that the Speaker of Council, Cllr Doreen David, bulldozed the election through failing to follow the correct process. In accordance with the law, the Mogale City Council was supposed to take a resolution allowing for the appointment of the Deputy Executive Mayor, however, this never happened.
We have written to the Speaker of council, and given her a 7 day deadline to convene a council meeting, so that public representatives can deliberate this procedurally unsound, improper election.
Failing to meet our requirements, the DA reserves its right to pursue legal action.
Cllr Lucky Sele has effectively misled the Gauteng MEC of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) into allowing this appointment to take place.
In an attempt to convince council to vote against this splurge in funds, the DA presented the following arguments:
- Service delivery and fiscal responsibility must come first, not another political appointment;
- The decision, in the DA’s view, was taken in the name of political expediency, and did not allow for proper deliberation;
- The reality is that the municipality does not have the money to fulfil its core mandate of service delivery – roads are dilapidated and water insecurity is the order of the day;
- Allocating funds to elect, and pay a deputy executive mayor, whose position is not mandatory under law, is irresponsible and wasteful;
- By misleading the house, and bulldozing the appointment through, it is in violation of Schedule 7 of the Municipal Structures Act; and
- There will be no delegation of powers to the deputy executive mayor at this point, as the position does not exist in the Mogale City Local Municipality Organogram, effectively paying someone to do absolutely nothing.
The Constitution of South Africa (Section 152) directs municipalities to prioritise sustainable service delivery, but electing a deputy executive mayor at a salary of R922,000 per annum, during a financial crisis, is a slap in the face to this constitutional obligation.
How can The EFF/ANC coalition justify spending more on salaries and benefits for a deputy executive mayor, when families in the Mogale community are going to bed hungry or living without electricity?