A provincial administrator will be appointed to bring stability to Sakhile
Mayor Juliette Radebe-Khumalo and her executive councillors were fired after meetings with an ANC delegation yesterday.
Following the announcement that Radebe-Khumalo and the entire executive committee has been axed, jubilant crowds gathered outside the city hall.
Sakhile residents sang, blew vuvuzelas and popped champagne bottles in celebration. "Bye bye, Juliette Radebe-Khumalo. We have told you it has always been coming," they sang. Residents had called for Radebe-Khumalo's head months ago, saying a municipal finance report showed R30-million in municipal funds that could not be accounted for.
Now the ANC has promised that the residents will see results in a year.
The ruling party's youth leader, Julius Malema addressed the crowd, saying: "This must be a lesson to all mayors and councillors who don't want to work. We are serious about service delivery. This is exemplary, not a precedent."
Deputy Police Minister Fikile Mbalula added: "We are committed to ensuring non interruption of service delivery and restoring political stability in Sakhile."
Mbalula said the ANC's national working committee had discussed the report and recommended an intervention.
He said the committee recommended that in line with the ANC's emphasis on zero tolerance for non-delivery, the mayor should be recalled, along with the speaker, chief whip, and all members of the municipal mayoral committee.
"To address concerns of mismanagement, weak administrative systems, charges of fraud and corruption, the Sakhile municipality will now be placed under the Mpumalanga administration," he added.
Mbalula said a provincial administrator will be appointed and given a year to bring stability to Sakhile.
Sakhile resident Thabo Selepe said, "We are so happy and delighted that democracy has won. It shows that community structures work.
''We will start a new era with a people centred municipality, good governance and transparency will prevail. People must go back to work and school.
''Justice will take its course. We apologise to all those who lost property, but in war there are always casualties," he said.
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