Another mayor has fallen in the ANC's drive for clean and proper governance before local government elections next year. The latest mayor to be shown the door is in Zeerust, North West. Afrika Thale will vacate the office after the ruling party took a decision to remove him.In the past months a number of mayors have been recalled and more are expected to face the chop, including senior leadership of Buffalo City in the Eastern Cape.Senior ANC officials said this week clean governance and the ability to carry out tasks would be the criteria. "As we move closer to elections and the demands coming from our communities, you can expect changes in some of the towns and cities ... Politics will have nothing to do with the removals," said a senior ANC member who is part of the election strategy.In North West, Collen Maine, the newly elected ANC Youth League president and outgoing MEC for local government and human settlements, said Thale's departure would strengthen the municipality.He said Thale has failed to offer leadership, which led to the collapse of municipal governance, and failed to regularly consult the community.But the SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco) in the province said removing Thale before the election would weaken the ruling party.Provincial Sanco chairman Paul Sebegoe said Thale's removal was not based on his performance in office. "We view such baseless actions as irresponsible, divisive and a clear attempt to dispense patronage at the expense of service delivery to our communities."A faction opposed to the provincial premier, Supra Mahumapelo, installed Thale after the 2011 local government elections, against the wishes of the ANC. The faction ignored an ANC provincial executive committee directive to elect councillor Justin Bhine as mayor...