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Mayoral appointment exposed for what it is

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Dear MyPE

Yesterday’s appointment of Danny Jordaan (SAFA president) as the new Nelson Mandela Bay Metro mayor was ostensibly done to turn the woeful metro administration around.

This is tantamount to shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic because the real problem in this metro is a broken ANC administration.

This fact is undisputed because even the ANC and the president have recognised this in the appointment of an interim task team to replace the regional ANC executive. This is also why the DA believes that this municipality is vulnerable and that it can be won from the ANC in 2016.  Changing the face of the mayor merely treats the symptom not the cause of the dysfunction that is making citizens of Port Elizabeth hungry for political change.

Today’s High Court ruling by Judge Dyalan Chetty that the metro should pay the former municipal manager, Mrs Lindiwe Msengana-Ndlela, R3,142 million (plus costs) for the premature and unreasonable termination of her contract exposes the ANC leadership at national, provincial and local government level for what it is. The ANC takes extraordinary steps to protect the ANC and its political leadership’s fortunes rather than doing the same to protect the service delivery fortunes of citizens in general and those of the Nelson Mandela Metro, in this case, in particular.

This latest court ruling not only exposes this dichotomy, it speaks volumes about the panicked appointment of Danny Jordaan as the new Nelson Mandela Bay Metro mayor. This appointment also appears to be in conflict with the constitutional provisions of SAFA, this is a hurdle that the ANC and Danny Jordaan are going to have to overcome as we believe that he will have to decide one way or another which role he will fulfil.

Whatever the outcome of that decision is, it will not have any bearing on the DA’s determination to win the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro.

Regards

Athol Trollip

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Port Elizabethan

This author is a 'catch-all' for occasional articles and letters written to MyPE. The Author of each article can be found in the signature at the bottom of each individual article.