The ANC welcomes the reinstatement of Councillor Maphetle Maphetle as mayor of the Tlokwe Local Municipality in the North West after defeating DA councillor and former mayor, Annette Combrink, by 31 votes to 21. This follows a vote of no confidence in Combrink that was passed earlier on Tuesday by 30 votes to 22. Councillor David Legoete, who brought the motion on behalf of the ANC caucus in Tlokwe City Council to have Combrink removed from office, stated clearly:
It is untenable for the Tlokwe City Council, which has the majority of councillors representing the ANC, to be led by a member of the DA in the executive.
The majority of constituencies within the jurisdiction of the Tlokwe City Council voted for the ANC and therefore expect the executive mayor to abide by the national, provincial and local policies and manifestos of the ANC to be implemented for the purposes of service delivery to them.
The ANC is satisfied that the ANC caucus in Tlokwe did the right thing by putting away their differences and restoring its mayor. We really applaud this correction by the ANC councillors in Tlokwe. We hope they will now focus on the mandate given to them by the people and continue with the fight to defeat the triple challenge of poverty, unemployment and inequality. The ANC mayor is back! Thank you.
Speaker, on a point of clarity, may I inquire from the previous speaker: When she said the ANC caucus did the right thing, did she refer to the first time they voted? [Laughter.]
Was that your member's statement? [Laughter.]