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ANC Councillor moves into Mogale Mayoral House

 

An ordinary ANC Councillor, Councillor Dennis Thabe, allegedly a close friend of the former ANC Mogale City Local Municipality Executive Mayor, Koketso Calvin Seerane, has been living in the Mogale City Mayoral House for approximately 14 months.

This has been revealed by the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, Paul Mashatile, in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.

According to Mashatile, Councillor Dennis Thabe has been living in the Mogale City Mayoral House for approximately 14 months without paying any rental fees.

There is no lease agreement for the occupation of the Mayoral House signed between the municipality and Councillor Thabe.

This means that Councillor Thabe is enjoying privileges that he does not deserve. These privileges include free accommodation, security services, garden services and the maintenance of the mansion.

This shows that the uncaring ANC government does as it pleases, to the benefit of themselves and their allies, and is unconcerned about the welfare of our people.

Despite the fact that Mogale City under the ANC government is struggling with finances and the delivery of services to its own residents, Councillor Thabe is defaulting in payments for municipal services at the Mayoral House.

MEC Mashatile said the municipality has opened a sundry account to recover the money that Councillor Thabe owes to the municipality and that the matter would be handed over for debt collection.

It is an absolute disgrace that a squatter who is benefitting illegally from the municipality and who is also a leader of the community, is failing to pay municipal bills as he should lead by example.

The DA will continue to engage MEC Mashatile to ensure that Councillor Thabe pays all the money he owes to the municipality. Councillor Thabe must be evicted from the Mayoral Mansion or sign a lease to rent at a market-related rental fee which is aligned with similar rentals in the area. The DA insists that the outstanding rental be recouped. We will also monitor the actions of the ANC Councillors in Mogale City to ensure that they don’t abuse state resources.

In the DA-led City of Tshwane, we are selling the Mayoral Mansion and using the money to deliver better services to our informal settlement residents. The ANC-led Mogale City can copy what we are doing for the benefit of our people instead of continuing to abuse municipal resources.

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DA Gauteng debates Motion on Virtual Spatial Mapping

The following speeches were delivered in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature today by DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Roads and Transport, Fred Nel MPL and DA Gauteng Spokesperson on Petitions, Lebo More MPL, during a debate on introducing spatial mapping models for Gauteng City Region programmes.

Speech by

Fred Nel MPL

“Gauteng’s current spatial planning initiatives built on sand”

• In a fast-developing province like Gauteng we need every planning tool we can get to ensure the proper development of Africa’s economic powerhouse. The motion refers to the challenge that apartheid spatial planning and development has left us with today and the DA is equally committed to eradicate this legacy;
• We need to get low-income workers closer to their jobs so that they can spend less on transport and spend more time with their families;
• Gauteng needs to prioritise its economic focus. The world around us is changing and we need to make an honest assessment as to whether Gauteng is future proof with regards to its planned economic development; and
• It is time for the Gauteng Government to modernize, we need to become a truly smart province that utilises technology as an indispensable partner in our socio-economic and spatial development initiatives.

The full speech can be obtained here.

Speech by

Lebo More MPL

“Virtual mapping of the province should be conducted inclusively”

• The Gauteng City Region Observatory collects and stores useful data, conducts surveys, develops new data sources and GIS mapping and analysis. Data is then converted into innovative products, which must include virtual modelling for a modernised government;
• Why do we want to decide what is to happen, with regards to spatial planning, without the inputs of those that we say we represent? and
• The Gauteng City Region includes all municipalities in the province, it is therefore imperative that the Provincial government works together with all local government structures in order to effect meaningful change which will see lower-income households and small businesses in the province succeed.

The full speech can be obtained here.