A Makana councillor is complaining to the municipality about abuse of power by council speaker Rachel Madinda after Madinda allegedly interfered with administrative processes.
In a letter received by the municipality this week, Ward 10 councillor Xolani Simakuhle accuses Madinda of trying to prevent him from holding ward committee elections in his ward.
A Makana councillor is complaining to the municipality about abuse of power by council speaker Rachel Madinda after Madinda allegedly interfered with administrative processes.
In a letter received by the municipality this week, Ward 10 councillor Xolani Simakuhle accuses Madinda of trying to prevent him from holding ward committee elections in his ward.
He argues that Madinda’s plan of holding committee elections for wards 5, 6, 11 and 12 during the course of last week "deliberately" excluded ward 10. He says that she furthermore did not provide him with any reasons for doing so.
At the heart of Simakuhle’s grievance is a ward meeting which he held on the Sunday before last at which residents elected a ward committee. He argues that Madinda interfered with the administration when she allegedly instructed Constituency Development Officer Thanduxolo Mthimkhulu not to design and print flyers publicising the meeting.
According to Simakuhle, Mthimkhulu had earlier told him that Madinda wanted Simakuhle to take the elections out of the meeting’s agenda, to which Simakuhle disagreed.
He therefore requests that Makana Mayor Vumile Lwana "instructs Madinda to distance herself from ward operations". "Her support must not be diluted with other ulterior motives and hidden agenda," reads the letter. "I am in no way willing to tolerate any abuse or micromanagement by any councillor."
The letter reiterates Simakuhle’s dismissal of alegations that he is a member of the Congress of The People (Cope) and accuses Madinda of confronting councillor Thuleka Ngeleza, who heads the corporate services portfoilio committee, for "talking to me".
He is convinced that Madinda conducted herself in a manner which is "unbecoming of of a public representative". "This is not only putting the organisation into disrepute but promotes factions in the institution," he concluded.
Madinda refused to comment and referred enquiries to Makana spokesperson Thandy Matebese who said the letter was received by the municipality on Wednesday and that "it has been brought to the attention of the Executive Mayor". He would not say how the municipality will deal with the grievance or what steps the municipality will take should Madinda be found guilty of misconduct.
Copies of the letter were also sent to ANC councillors in the Makana council and secretaries of the party’s local, regional and provincial structures.
