The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) today sent a letter to North West’s MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (CoGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi, demanding urgent legal action against a group of councillors who have been paralysing the Ditsobotla Local Municipality with their unlawful conduct for quite some time.
The party also welcomes the legal clarity provided by the latest court ruling on the Municipality’s rightful office-bearers. The ruling follows an attempt by an ANC faction to capture the Municipality, including appointing their own mayor and speaker. They also immediately began unlawfully awarding contracts to service providers.
The letter requests that the MEC uses his full powers, in terms of the relevant municipal legislation, to hold this group of councillors accountable for their unlawful conduct.
The legislation specifically stipulates that any financial losses incurred by the Municipality as a result of such conduct should be recovered from the relevant councillors. This also includes all irregular payments made to these individuals.
The Freedom Front Plus, furthermore, demands that the implicated councillors be removed from their positions for violating the Code of Conduct for Public Office-bearers.
The Ditsobotla community, which includes Lichtenburg and Coligny, has been plagued by the reckless actions of ANC and EFF factions in the Municipality for years. The conflict between these factions appears to be fuelled by attempts at gaining access to municipal assets and financial resources.
The ANC-led provincial government in North West should prioritise the interests of the Ditsobotla community and stop letting internal ANC politics undermine decisive action against transgressing councillors.
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