The Patriotic Alliance (PA) says the suspension of six senior officials accused of corruption relating to multi-million-rand COVID-19 contracts, is the reason the African National Congress (ANC) has severed ties with it.
The ANC in the City of Johannesburg on Tuesday ended its relationship with the Patriotic Alliance, one of several political parties it had entered into a coalition agreement with to win back Johannesburg from the Democratic Alliance (DA).
In return, Patriotic Alliance councillor Phillip Lloyd had been appointed as the Member of Mayoral Committee for Economic Development in the Johannesburg Metro.
However, he has now resigned as both MMC and councillor.
Lloyd was overseeing the work of the city’s entities such as the Joburg Market and the Joburg Property Company (JPC).
The acting CEO of the JPC is a PA member Eldred Mtaner, who has suspended three senior officials alleged to be ANC comrades for signing off multi-million rand COVID-19 cleaning and sanitation contracts.
ANC Greater Joburg Spokesperson Sasabona Manganye says they do not agree with the PA on how it handled governance issues in the city’s entities.
They also claim employees have been suspended without proper procedure being followed.
But the PA maintains they were within their rights to conduct a full investigation into suspected acts of fraud and corruption.
They say the ANC is in breach of the coalition agreement and that they’ll be challenging the decision to cut ties with it.
