The leadership of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in Zandspruit has called for the ward committee to step down or dissolve for failing to fulfill its duties.
The EFF Bokamoso ward 114 Zandspruit secretary, Gift Mkasi, released a statement on 13 November suggesting that all 10 members of the ward committee, including councillor Victor Mafinya, should step down otherwise they would not be recognised in the community.
One of the reasons Mkasi raised in his fight to dissolve this committee was the unresolved controversies surrounding the election of this structure. He claimed that the structure was elected wrongfully and this was reported to them in a letter written to their chairperson, but in vain. He added that the community also voiced its rejection of this structure but committee remained unshaken.
Some of the grievances from Mkasi are that the committee was not attending to issues on the ground, which defeated their role in the community. “We are unapologetic that all of them must step down because they failed to fulfill their own duties.
We are not in a romantic relationship whereby they will be given a second chance to prove themselves. The EFF in Zandspruit will not recognise any lazy individual to represent our community…“We call on the Council of the City of Johannesburg to dissolve the ward 114 committee, based on their failures as outlined in terms of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998,” Mkasi further explained.
Mafinya viewed this action by the EFF as a stunt to gain confidence in the community as we head towards next year’s national elections. “The EFF in Zandspruit is using this opportunity to campaign. They were never visible until the recent march in Zandspruit,” he said.
He stated that the current structure won’t dissolve because of the EFF’s ‘bitterness’. “The ward committee meetings will continue without any disruptions. If people want to disrupt our meetings, the ward committee will see what it decides then. The issues they are raising were also raised during the Mayor’s visit and the Speaker of Council Vasco Da Gama responded by saying, ‘they (the committee) were voted in by the community and there is no need to say they aren’t a ward committee’,” Mafinya explained.
He concluded by asking the EFF if they found the ward committee to be dysfunctional, why didn’t they attempt to disband it then – why wait until now?
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