A desperate attempt to salvage IDP process

Another special council meeting in less than a month was again convened at Mogalakwena Municipality last Wednesday when the council gathered to discuss the restructuring of the IDP steering committee.
This follows in the wake of councillor Nkholo Mashemaite’s resignation. Mashemaite tendered his resignation after he was elected as ANC Waterberg’s regional secretary despite being implicated in allegations of breaching the municipal code of conduct for councillors at Mogalakwena.
A forensic Audit by KPMG raised serious questions about irregular spending of municipal funds and points fingers at the mayor, Thlalefi Mashemaite, his relative, Nkholo Mashemaite and ANC chief whip, LD Langa.
“Whereas the Municipality is momentarily going through intricate occurence I have full trust that, once colleagues ANC councillors do fully subject themselves to the discipline and guidance of the African National
Congress, stability will be restored in the
municipality and the pace of service delivery to the people in the entire area of the Municipality will increase,” Mashemaite said in his letter of resignation.
Mashemaite’s resignation necessitates the appointment of a new councillor on the IDP steering committee, but because the municipality has already failed to comply with the Municipal Systems Act which stipulates that it must have compiled an integrated Development Plan and Council must have approved the Process Plan for the 2014/15 IDP by 27 August 2013, council proposed that a new steering committee be established.
The IDP Steering Committee did not hold several of its meetings due to non-attendance of councillors and a catch-up plan was approved by the steering committee on 17 January this year.
On 21 February a representative forum meeting was scheduled but members of the IDP steering committee disrupted the mee-ting and it was finally closed without taking the relevant resolutions in terms of the process to adopt the IDP.
At last Wednessday's meeting it was proposed that councillors TA Mashemaite, NS Montane and MR Lebelo be replaced by councillors MW Mabula, RE Motibi and ME Ramashala.
Councill will again convene this week to ponder the fate of the embattled mayor and the councillors who are accused of colluding with him in allegations of wasteful and
irregular expenditure of municipal funds.