🇿🇦South AfricaSouthern Africa
ANC removes two mayors amid questions of inconsistency and pre-election maneuvering
via The Citizen2 min read
The ANC has recently removed two mayors, Sipho Radebe of Emfuleni Local Municipality and Douglas Maimane of Madibeng Local Municipality, in less than a week. The party stated its commitment to municipalities focused on community needs, service delivery, job creation, and economic opportunity, emphasizing that the needs of the people come before individual ambitions. However, political analyst Wayne Duvenhage suggests this could be crisis management and last-minute maneuvering before upcoming elections. Duvenhage noted that the ANC might be trying to appear proactive against underperforming officials, but cannot apply this consistently across all areas, particularly in coalition governments like Johannesburg. ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula previously stated that Joburg mayor Dada Morero would not be recalled in an election year, a decision Duvenhage believes is driven by a political agenda. Radebe's removal in Emfuleni followed service delivery failures and the DA winning a ward in the area, while Maimane's recall in Madibeng was due to internal ANC disputes and allegations of campaigning against the party, leading to legal action.
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