Greater Tubatse-Fetakgomo municipality fails to elect mayor

The mayoral position at the Greater Tubatse-Fetakgomo local municipality in Limpopo remains vacant after the council failed to elect a new mayor during the council sitting on Tuesday.

The council did not elect a mayor due to differences between councillors.

The municipality has been running without a mayor for about a month after the removal of the former mayor over the VBS scandal.

The sitting comes after the former mayor,Johannes Phokane, was axed together with other mayors whose municipalities invested in VBS. Some ANC councillors requested that the process to elect a mayor be adjourned until Friday.

The election of the new municipal mayor has been adjourned to give the two factions of the ANC to agree on the name of the candidate.

ANC councillor, Victor Mahlake has tabled a proposal for the council to elect the chairperson of the council instead of the mayor.

“During December 2018 the office of the Speaker received resignation from one of the member of the executive committee councilor Phokane MJ who resigned as member of the executive and chairperson council should note that the executive committee is one of the principal committees it is the responsibility of the municipal council to fill the vacancies that exist.”

Tumelo Molapo, who represents the Socialist Agenda for Dispossessed Africans party in the council, says they are against the proposal to elect the council chairperson before the new mayor.

“What has transpired today in the council is a pure madness. Today we were suppose to elect a mayor as a council is our responsibility our Fetakgomo municipality led by speaker just pass all the legislation by saying they want to elect the chairperson of the council those resolution to us are just barbecue now things are struck at Tubatse Fetakgomo municipality.”

DA councillor Isaac Makgopa says service delivery has been affected because the municipality does not have the mayor.

“The ANC councilors they are in majority they defect this in term to be done in the next council meeting this means up until this stage where the mayor resigned we still don’t have the mayor as Fetakgomo-Tubatse municipality in terms of service delivery there’s nothing that is being implemented.”

A PAC councillor, John Mohlala, says factions within the ANC are delaying the process of electing a new mayor.

Phokane is amongst the seven municipal mayors dismissed over the VBS saga in Limpopo in December.

The Greater Tubatse-Fetakgomo local municipality had deposited more than 200-million rand at the liquidated mutual bank. The other six municipalities have elected their new mayors in December.