Note to editors: Please find attached English and Sesotho soundbites by Cllr Hismajesty Maqhubu.
As ordinary South Africans and residents struggle to make ends meet, the ANC in Tokologo Local Municipality is using the plight of the people as a campaign tool. Poverty affects all citizens equally and starvation is rife in small towns where there are no economic activities and/or pillars to uplift communities.
To eradicate hunger, both National and Provincial governments have dispatched EPWP projects, Learnerships, and CWP programs to all three towns of Tokologo. There exists an agreement between the council and communities that employment for such opportunities shall be conducted on a lottery system.
However, the ANC councillors in Hertzogville and Boshof removed some of the people recruited through this fair process simply because they are not affiliated with their political party. These residents were then replaced by ward committee members who were known loyalists and ANC cadres. The Democratic Alliance (DA) posed this question to the Mayor in Council and requested the acting MM to clarify the matter as it is more administrative than political.
The then-acting Municipal Manager revealed incautiously to the council that such recruitment was done through ANC branches. Poverty affects all residents the same way and both Hertzogville and Boshof community members deserve equal employment opportunities not only ANC Members. We will not rest until this matter is resolved for the benefit of the community.
We have further demanded that a comprehensive report concerning this issue be made available in the next ordinary council and that the Speaker must administer the disciplinary process to any of the councillors who would be found guilty of fraudulently replacing rightful beneficiaries with ANC cadres. We are committed to rooting out corruption, no matter how small it may seem, to prevent large-scale fraud and maladministration in our small communities.
Our communities deserve equal opportunities. This we will ensure throughout our term of office. All residents have a right to food security and to be treated with fairness. No one will be prejudiced against in our watch and we will protect the rights of our people in everything we do.