Seven political parties represented in the coalition that is currently governing in the City of Johannesburg have opened a case of corruption and bribery against the African National Congress (ANC).
It’s alleged that a R150 000 bribe was offered to some councillors who are members of the coalition, by ANC councillors for votes in support of removing Mayor Mpho Phalatse.
The Hillbrow Police Station in Johannesburg was ablaze with political party leaders and members wanting to try by all means to avert the vote of no confidence against the Mayor.
Taking their plight to the Hillbrow Police Station, these seven political parties in a coalition in the City of Johannesburg include the DA, ActionSA, FFPlus, Patriotic Alliance, IFP, ACDP and COPE.
Two councillors from the IFP and Patriotic Alliance furnished the police with affidavits, saying they were approached moments ahead of the vote of no confidence against the DA’s Vasco Da Gama as council speaker.
“We hoping that this thing will be thoroughly investigated as it sets a precedent that in South Africa we cannot have a situation where parties are campaigning to then say we are working with these people but then they are able to work with them through being bought and we heard some shocking stories of brown envelopes, hand exchanges or being promised in the basements of the council chambers. We are hoping that these things will be thoroughly investigated,” says Gauteng DA leader Solly Msimanga.
COPE has distanced itself from what their councillor Colleen Makhubela did on Thursday which saw Vasco da Gama being voted out as the Johannesburg Council Speaker.
“What Colleen Makhubela has done on Thursday was not a mandate from the Congress of the People,” says COPE spokesperson Dennis Bloem.
ActionSA has denied accusations from Makhubela that it continues to bow before the DA, hindering the service delivery to the people of Johannesburg.
“We want to make it clear that no amount of money is going to buy power for the ANC to come to the City of Johannesburg. We know that even the motion that was tabled last week Thursday, it was not tabled by the ANC, but it was tabled by those who work with the ANC and they are being funded to go and bribe our councillors. It will not work and they must desist from doing it because it will not work,” says ActionSA’s Funzi Ngobeni.
The Patriotic Alliance has confirmed that some of its councillors have been offered a bribe by the ANC last week.
“We have lists of some of the things they have done. Even we were approached in a every way possible and we need to tell the ANC and those who align with them in the city and across these metros in Gauteng that, there is no reason why you can’t govern but do it in a democratic way, get a buy-in of the other parties. If you don’t get that, please accept it, learn to be a good opposition,” says Patriotic Alliance’s Charles Cilliers.
The ANC could not be reached for comment.
VIDEO: Joburg coalition parties accuse ANC of corruption, bribery:
