COSATU North West on the appointment of mayors

The Congress of South African Trade Unions in the North West is disappointed in the manner that the ANC has appointed the mayors in all the councils in the province.

The alliance had a full day meeting on 26 May 2011 where all the concerns were raised constructively and we thought we were going to see some progressive change in the appointment of these mayors but it still remains factional.

In the view of COSATU some of these comrades have a record of failure to deliver and run a small municipality, like Manketse Tlhape who is a former Mayor of Tswaing who failed to run that municipality to the point where the national department had to appoint an administrator to intervene, but now she is appointed to run the whole district council and it is augured that she has shown diligence while running Tswaing municipality.

During her time in Tswaing the rate payers association withheld the rates in Delarayvelle because of lack of service delivery. As we speak post this election the ANC has lost two wards which have been traditionally a stronghold of the ANC and now it has gone to the opposition because of her incapacity to lead in the locality.

As COSATU we believe that since she failed to lead a small local municipality she cannot lead a district council and we will lose the whole Ngaka Modiri Molema to the opposition if she remains as a mayor there.

We have made submissions towards some of comrades that can work towards service delivery and our call to the ANC is that those names must be included in the council as part of the revolutionary programme towards service delivery as we promised the poor people during the election campaign.

COSATU appreciates the commitment from the provincial secretary of the ANC that those who cannot deliver will be removed immediately but the question is why do you appoint a person who you know does not have the capacity to deliver.

COSATU has observed with disappointment that the principle of continuity was not observed and some of the mayors who have clean and credible records in their municipalities have been removed. What is worse in all the regions except for Dr. Kenneth Kaunda all the mayors are new and this happens at the time when our people are desperate for services which they have been waiting for, for the past seventeen years.

COSATU want to indicate that it totally rejects the appointments of mayors in the following areas: Ngaka Modiri Molema district, Moretele local, Rustenburg local, Moses Kotane local, Mahikeng local and Ratlou local and we support the mayors in all other areas. This is not because there are no challenges in those areas, but it is because of the inclusivity of the alliance and other progressive comrades in the executives of those councils.

COSATU calls on the NEC to investigate the conduct of some PEC and REC members who it is alleged campaigned and supported independent candidates in some areas of the province.

COSATU would like to send a plea to the task team to speed up to process of investigating the comrades who have been included in the list fraudulently as some of them are now nominated as mayors and/or speakers.

COSATU will support all those communities who are staging protests against these mayors and we are not in any position to support those mayors who are not fit to lead.

COSATU will embark on a program of action in defence of service delivery to the poor in the north west as we have made a commitment to the voters that we will come back to them and report.

COSATU will not support any programme of partnership between the ANC and DA/UCDP. In COSATU's view there is no strategic relationship in the objectives of the ANC and that of DA. DA remains the enemy of the working class, advancing the interest of capitalism in its onslaught against the working class

As COSATU we want to repeat that we will not support any person who is in one way or another implicated in corruption and those who have failed to deliver in the past

Statement issued by COSATU North West Provincial Secretary, Solly Nani Phetoe, June 1 2011

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