Lebesa survives motion of no confidence

By Emily Setona

QWAQWA – Maluti-a-Phofung Chief Whip Moeketsi Lebesa has survived a motion of no confidence after 32 councillors voted against it during a heated council sitting. Twenty-eight councillors supported the motion, while four abstained, leading to its failure.

The motion, tabled by MAP16’s Paratlane Motloung during a special council meeting on 17 April, accused Lebesa of sowing division among councillors, manipulating processes, and misleading the mayor. Despite these allegations, the numbers fell short of the required majority to unseat him.

In response to the outcome, Lebesa expressed relief and dismissed the motion as baseless. “I have always maintained that the motion was frivolous and without substance. The initiator of the motion could not substantiate the serious allegations brought against me. This is a clear message to councillors of Maluti-a-Phofung that they cannot abuse council processes to bring motions without merit. A motion without substance will never stand,” he said.

Lebesa added that when he challenged Motloung to provide five examples of how he allegedly misled the mayor, the MAP16 councillor opted not to respond.

Despite the setback, Motloung remained resolute. “We would have liked to remove the Chief Whip today and replace him with another person, but we are not defeated. The time will come. The closeness of the numbers shows us that next time we will succeed,” he said.

The motion’s failure highlights the deep political divisions within the Maluti-a-Phofung council, but also the resilience of leadership amid growing factional battles.