The Tlokwe local municipality has denied writing off R90 million in debt to entice voters ahead of the municipal ward by-election.
|||Rustenburg – The Tlokwe local municipality in North West did not write off R90 million in debt to entice voters ahead of the municipal ward by-election, the municipality said on Thursday.
“The DA’s allegations are grossly irresponsible and misleading to the public. It is a sign of a party that is politically bankrupt and would desperately do anything, even unethical, to scrape for whatever votes they can get,” said mayoral spokesperson Victor Boqo.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday accused the African National Congress (ANC) of cheap politicking, by writing off debt amounting to R90 million to residents in the much sought-after ward 4.
DA Tlokwe constituency head, Juanita Terblanche, said the ANC had swapped food parcels for debt relief in order to secure votes in the upcoming by-elections.
“Suddenly, it is revealed that the council scrapped nearly R90 million of residents’ debt in Promosa, Ikageng and Mohadin. It is straightforwardly suspicious that information like this is shared nine days prior to one of the most contested by-elections in the city ever,” she said.
“It is clear that this is just another exercise to gain votes. All the other wards are inhabited by the poorest of the poor with much more serious service delivery challenges than Ward 4. However, the poor and their conditions are ignored, just because they do not live in such a strategic ward for the governing party,” Terblanche added.
Boqo said there have been no sitting of council this year.
“They [DA] themselves know that there has been no council meeting this year as because of their boycott tactics that have left sittings of council with no quorum and unable to continue. So which council could have wiped off a R90 million debt?” he asked.
“The last time the council discussed the writing off of debts was in the 2013/14 financial year, and there were no elections. The amount written was not R90 million, but R43,349463. 91 and involved indigent debt only. The DA was part of that council meeting and never raised a whimper of objection or concern.”
He called on the DA to annouce publicly which councill meeting took a decision to write off R90 million debt.
“We are calling the DA’s bluff, they must tell the public as to where the decision of writing off the R90 million was taken, failing which we will say they can be confirmed as the greatest and shameless liars.”
By-elections would be held in Tlokwe on February 24, following the Constitutional Court ruling in November last year, which set aside the outcome of the by-election held on 18 September 2013 in ward 18 and by-elections held on 11 December 2013 in wards 1, 4, 11, 12, 13 and 20. The court ordered that fresh by-elections must be held.
Ward 4 would be contested by Johanna Shono Xaba, an independent candidate, Thamsanqa Nols Kondile of the ANC and Ludwig Johannes Zerwick of the DA.
The DA and Congress of the People on Wednesday said a service delivery blitz by the ANC led municipality was an undue influence of voters.
“As for the service delivery blitz in ward 4, it is not something new. We have been taking services to the communities which has been led by the executive mayor [Kgotso Khumalo], the premier, Supra Mahumapelo through Setsokotsane and the mayoral Imbizos including public meetings.
Instead we are on record that the DA, [they] have not been calling public meetings in December and January as they should be.”
African News Agency
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