Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Cllr Piet Lotriet and Sesotho soundbite by Cllr Tumelo Rammile. See attached picture here.
The DA demands answers on how Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality handled its proposed organisational structure.
Throughout the process, Council was repeatedly assured that it followed all required labour procedures, including consultation with organised labour. Any subsequent suggestion that these processes were incomplete raises serious questions about the accuracy of those assurances.
The structure reached Council after the City Manager, the responsible MMC, and the Executive Mayor approved it. Accountability therefore extends beyond the administration to the political leadership that endorsed its submission.
If Council was misled, this would constitute a grave breach of trust. The consultation records, minutes and supporting reports must be produced so that the facts can be established.
Millions of rands’ worth of time and resources have been invested in this process. Mangaung cannot afford to squander that investment through procedural failures, negligence, or misleading representations.
The Minister of Finance and National Treasury must be informed urgently. We call for a full investigation into what went wrong, who was responsible and what consequence management must follow.
This would not have happened under a DA administration. Proper consultation, accurate reporting and accountable leadership would have been required from the outset.
Mangaung’s residents deserve a municipality structured to deliver services effectively. They also deserve the truth.