By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) in the Free State has finally made its decision on who will replace the embattled Mangaung Metro Municipality’s mayor, Mxolisi Siyonzana.
ANC Mangaung’s regional spokesperson in the Free State, Ngcamisa Nxangisa, confirmed that the NEC has selected the Umkhonto weSizwe veteran Gregory Nthatisi to replace Siyonzana.
Nxangisa also confirmed that Siyonzana tendered his resignation letter to the party after the Provincial Executive Committee (PEC), led by its chairperson, Mxolisi Dukwana, and provincial secretary, Polediso Motsoeneng, decided to redeploy him.
However, Siyonzana is yet to finalise the last stages of the resignation by also furnishing the speaker of the council, Stefanie Lockman-Naidoo, with the letter which will then allow the council to elect Nthatisi as the new mayor of Mangaung.
“The ANC in Mangaung had the privilege of being briefed by the PEC of the ANC, led by the secretary, comrade Polediso Motsoeneng, that indeed the executive mayor of Mangaung, comrade Mxolisi Siyonzana, handed in his resignation letter as both the executive mayor and councillor in the Mangaung Metro Municipal Council. We immediately accepted and thanked the councillor for a sterling contribution spanning more than 10 years in that municipality,” Nxangisa added.
The move to redeploy him comes after the ailing metro went through a series of service delivery challenges and failures for years which at some time left residents angry and ultimately engaging in protests.
The troubled Metro has since been dragged to the High Court by a community pressure group and a political party seeking an order to dissolve the council. Potso Motoko, the leader of the Mangaung Service Delivery Forum (MSDF), and Joe Mbahare Kekana, the president of Forum 4 Service Delivery, went to court on Monday 27 February to request the Metro Council be dissolved by a judge’s order.
In the urgent court application, Motoko and Kekane have also named 12 respondents, including the newly elected Premier of the Free State, Dukwana, President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). In the papers before the court, Motoko and Kekana say it is a well-known fact that a number of crises have befallen the metro over the years.
In 2020, the National Treasury is said to have withheld grant funding of R429 million due to underspending. The Auditor-General (AG), Tsakani Maluleke, said in her report that Treasury’s action was a result of the delays by the Metro in completing grant-funded projects.