Mokgalapa must step down immediately: ANC
The African National Congress (ANC) in Tshwane has called on Tshwane Mayor Steven Mokgalapa to resign immediately or face yet another motion of no confidence.
Maepa was speaking to the media at Tshwane House in Pretoria on Thursday.
Mokgalapa announced on Sunday that he would be resigning as mayor at the next council meeting at the end of February.
But the ANC in Tshwane says they have not seen the mayor's resignation letter and do not trust his intentions.
The party's regional chairperson Kgosi Maepa described Mokgalapa as a "bad and untrustworthy steward".
He adds that even the mayor's party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), were unhappy with Mokgalapa’s conduct.
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[LISTEN] Tshwane mayor Stevens Mokgalapa resigns
The resignation will take effect at the end of February. This comes after months of controversy linking the mayor to several scandals, including tender tailoring and an office romance with one of his MMC's. Mokgalapa says he took the decision with the people of Tshwane in mind.
"They don't want him, they force him to resign. Why should the ANC and other parties in council be sitting with Mokgalapa? To do what?
"Because the people that deployed him here do not want him. These people are saying they don't trust Mokgalapa themselves. Now we as councillors here should be sitting with a person his party doesn't want.
"Is it fair for us? Mokgalapa must go immediately if he is not good for them. How is he good for us?"
Maepa denied accusations that the party's recent motions of no confidence against DA councillors were populist in nature.
"Motions of no confidence are a mechanism that we that put in place, if we lose confidence in a person," he said.
Listen to Maepa below:
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