THE ANC in the North West has decided that the embattled mayor of Matlosana, James Ntsolela, should resign and the chief financial officer, Mercy Phetla, be suspended pending the outcome of the corruption investigation against her.
In a letter dated April 10 and directed to the party’s secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, the ANC in the North West said the provincial leadership had been inundated with several issues from municipalities that warranted immediate and decisive leadership.
The party said it was important to note that several engagements and consultations had been undertaken with relevant structures and individuals affected by the decisions.
“The leadership of the province has received a number of media reports, including documentary evidence pertaining to alleged corruption against some of our deployees, in the main troika of the municipality. As part of establishing facts, the provincial leadership has convened both the ANC caucus and the troika of that municipality to establish facts.
“What emanated out of that consultative process is that there are answerable cases to some of the allegations. The mayor of the municipality appears to be highly compromised by these allegations and there are some admissions he has made pertaining to the allegations.
“On the strength of the above, the leadership of the province has decided that the mayor, Cde James Ntsola, must resign with immediate effect. This is to ensure that the name and integrity of the ANC are not put into disrepute. The leadership further directed that the CFO of that municipality must also be put on suspension pending investigation laid against her of malfeasance, which also appears to be having serious substance,” read the ANC North West letter to Mbalula.
The party stated that in the same municipality the provincial leadership has also implemented a decision of the ANC national executive committee of the Kgalema Motlanthe report regarding the Ward 1 councillor of that municipality.
“The decision was that the councillor had been an illegitimate candidate that was registered against the preferred candidate of the community in that ward. A political assessment was conducted by the provincial leadership in that ward. Our findings were that the community still insists on its initially preferred candidate. Our resolve was that the ANC could be hurt in that ward in terms of electoral support for the upcoming general elections.
“Consequently the incumbent councillor and the branch executive committee have been convened to communicate the decision of the organisation that she must tender her resignation before the 12th April 2024. Her resignation will be effective after May 2024. The NEC convenor of deployees to the province, Cde Soviet Lekganyane, was part of communicating this decision,” read the ANC North West letter.
In the letter, the ANC North West provincial secretary said the brief update was meant to ensure that all these decisions were processed organisationally, and the leadership was kept abreast of the developments in the province to avoid a situation where the national leadership received official organisational decisions through informal sources or mediums.
The Matlosana mayor is accused of soliciting funds from service providers, which were then deposited into his personal bank account but never disclosed to the ANC, where he claimed to be the fund-raiser of the party in the Matlosana Municipality.
One of the funders and businessman, Patrick Mokasule, whose company GMHM Construction and Projects was awarded a tender, disclosed to the Sunday Independent that he had given Ntsolela money under the impression that the money was going to ANC activities.
Phetla, who is Ntsolela’s former ally and chief financial officer of Matlosana Municipality, landed in hot water after she was arrested on charges of corruption following a police report that she allegedly received a bribe in the form of a vehicle worth R1.4 million from the GMHM company.
Phetla’s relationship with the GMHM company saw her bail of R35 000 being paid by Masego Mokasule, who is the son of Phetla’s co-accused, Nomthandazo Mokasule, the wife of Patrick Mokasule.
Ntsolela and Phetla’s relationship appeared to have hit rock-bottom after a leaked WhatsApp message between the two revealed that the two threatened to “deal with each other” when it emerged that Ntsolela had received funds from Mokasule but never delivered it where it was intended.
Mokasule responded to the publication, alleging that the two had been milking him for a long time.
“When they see me, they see a cash cow that must always be sucked for money. Now that they’re fighting, they want to drag and put everyone under the bus,” said Mokasule.
By the time of publication, the council in Matlosana had not given any indication of when the mayor and his CFO would be removed.