Chaos at municipality

What has been considered as a coup d’etat of the Mogalakwena Municipality by Limpopo police early this week has interfered with municipal service delivery.
According to the Mogalakwena Residents Association (MRA), the Provincial Government has shown disregard for the constitution by instructing police in the province to forcefully seize control of the Mogalakwena Municipality. Police forcefully removed the security guards appointed by the municipality together with the municipal manager and his employees. They apparently also got their hands on a number of documents from the municipality which were removed from the premises and loaded into a police van. The democratic alliance (DA) in Mokopane claims that all of this was done without any legal paperwork or court warrants.
This all started on Monday and continued on Tuesday which lead to a standstill of municipal service delivery.
Damage was caused to the entrance doors of the council chambers and various office doors were severely damaged as the police forced entrance after allegedly being instructed by the MEC of Coghsta to do so.
Municipal manager (MM), William Kekana, on Wednesday said this action was politically motivated by the booted former mayor, Tlhalefi Mashamaite and his suspended councillors who claimed that he was sworn in as the new mayor of the municipality.
“This must have been done in secrecy and if so, it is without a doubt illegitimate as nowhere, a notice nor an agenda is to be found” said Kekana.
The MM and current mayor, Malose Mabuela, had no other choice but to approach the Gauteng High Court who granted an interim interdict to prevent the municipality to be taken over. The police was ordered to immediately restore undisturbed possession of all documents and other property belonging to the municipality and to leave the premises.
Municipal services continued as usual on Wednesday morning.