The ANC has belatedly fired Emfuleni mayor Sipho Radebe, who has presided over the collapse of service delivery in the troubled municipality since his election in 2021.
While Radebe’s dismissal ought to be welcomed by all given the dysfunctional state of the municipality, it would be foolhardy to believe his recall had anything to do with governance failures.
He was elected mayor after the 2021 local government elections, and since then the municipality he led has been sliding into an abyss. Emfuleni’s sewage system and wastewater management have completely collapsed, leading to Rand Water taking over through a special purpose vehicle. Corruption in the municipality has worsened, with investigation after investigation pointing to flouting of procurement processes and waste of public money.
Waste removal has ground to a halt in most areas in the Vaal despite millions of rand being spent monthly on private waste collection contracts. These are but some of the examples of service delivery failures that did not just start this year but have been ongoing since the mayor took over.
Further, the municipality’s debt to Eskom has escalated, with the power utility repeatedly seeking court action to attach its bank accounts for failing to honour multiple payment agreements reached.
Coincidentally, Radebe’s removal comes just weeks after he wrote a letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa requesting a Special Investigating Unit probe into the affairs of the troubled municipality.
This, coupled with ANC factional infighting within the Sedibeng regional leadership of the party, appears to be a more plausible reason for his firing.
In its statement on Radebe’s recall, the ANC Gauteng provincial leadership said the urgent intervention was required to reset the municipality and consolidate its efforts to serve the people of Emfuleni. The party said Radebe’s removal was also meant to restore confidence in local governance.
With less than five months left before local government elections are held, it is mind-boggling that the party believes the removal of a mayor after presiding over such a mess for years with impunity would restore confidence.
This is the same party that has previously defended Radebe when a motion of no confidence was brought against him in council this year on the same grounds of governance failures.
If anything, therefore, Radebe’s removal from Emfuleni ought to be seen for what it truly is – a disintegrating party that is fighting internally over its own carcass.
To claim that the intervention in Emfuleni is a commitment to “fix local government and transform the economy” is simply disingenuous and laughable.
