By Masilo Malakwane
QWAQWA- The Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) deputy president Floyd Shivambu has proclaimed that his party will take control of all municipalities in the Free State’s biggest district of Thabo Mofutsanyana.
But for the red berets’ dream to come true, it would first need to win hearts of voters in the hotly contested Maluti-a-Phofung in the November local government elections.
Shivambu – who led an EFF peaceful march on Wednesday from Phuthaditjhaba Multipurpose hall to Maluti-a-Phofung local municipality offices to handover a memorandum of grievances – is the latest political heavyweight to land in MAP in the run up to the polls.
Addressing supporters outside the municipality offices, Shivambu predicted that the EFF will be in control of Thabo Mofutsanyana district.
“In all our election campaigns, we have called for people in all municipalities to be given a clean corruption-free governance. We want to call on all Thabo Mofutsanyana’s current mayors to resign because we’re going to hold them accountable for the corruption and malfeasance that took place during their tenure,” Shivambu said.
The EFF’s grievances in the memorandum include the fight against corruption, provision of service delivery and dealing with the complexity of issuing permits to unlicensed taxi operators.
The party’s provincial deputy chairperson, Mahlomola Majake, told The Guard that the EFF is going to make sure all those who are linked with the corruption that led to the disappearance of R200-million from national Department of Water and Sanitation that was set aside to resolve water crisis in Maluti a Phofung are arrested.
“We are also investigating another possible disappearance of R59-million related to Covid-19 PPE’s” said Majake.
Meanwhile, the secretary of unlicensed taxis operators Pan African Transport Corporation, Tshepo Rasenekane, said they decided to write to the EFF’s national leadership for intervention in their bloody taxi war with QwaQwa United Taxi Association, because the provincial department of roads and transport failed them ‘dismally’.
“The EFF listened to our grievances and indeed they came to our rescue, because we were tired of the mistreatment we’ve been getting from Qwauta members,” he said.
The party supporters dispersed peacefully after the memorandum was signed and received by Valentine Senkhane, an official in the office of the Executive Mayor Masetjhaba Lakaje-Mosia.
