WHO SHOULD BECOME THE EXECUTIVE MAYOR OF GMM AND WHY PONDERS BENZI KA-SOKO.
The 2021 Local Government Elections have come and gone.
As I predicted, these Elections were highly contested and the results are an attestation to this fact.
There is no outright winner to singlehandedly governs the Govan Mbeki Municipality.
This simply means that this municipality should be co-governed by a Coalition Government comprised of 2 or more political parties.
If the option of a Coalition Government does not materialize, parties risk going the route of election reruns which will be extremely costly and politically suicidal, to say the least.
Whilst political parties are still busy engaging in intellectual gymnastics and manoeuvrings, there is a serious danger lurking with regard to service delivery.
As we speak, municipalities do not have Councils and are singlehandedly run by Municipal Managers.
The prevailing situation demands of political parties to refrain from politicking and politricks.
Politicking and Politricks will delay and derail any efforts aimed at expediting the process of peaceful co-existence in co-governance.
These shenanigans will have a debilitating effect on the provision of quality service delivery to communities.
These political processes will show us the element of power-mongering by these people called politicians.
The jostling for positions is characterized by ruthlessness and heartlessness typical of vicious animals in the Animal Kingdom annihilating one another to claim physical superiority.
The issue of the monetization of politics comes into play.
Also read: Coalition Politics is becoming the new normal
It has been widely reported that big monies exchange hands during this period after Elections wherein people want certain lucrative positions by all means necessary.
Political parties must be cautioned against fielding candidates who are not fit for the purpose of the position of Executive Mayor.
GMM is a big and strategic municipality that must be led by a competent and politically astute person in the capacity of the Executive Mayor.
We don’t want a Political Tabula Rasa to be parachuted into the position of the Executive Mayor for purposes of nepotism, cronyism, patronage and the politics of javelinism.
GMM is supposed to be an investment destination for powerful companies and businesses operating in other parts of the country.
The very fact that Sasol and other mining companies are situated within the jurisdiction of this municipality is an attestation to its strategic nature.
First and foremost, the GMM Executive Mayor does not own the Mayoral car because there’s nothing called Mayoral car.
The GMM Executive Mayor uses the Council vehicle to execute the duties and functions assigned to the Executive Mayor as a Political Head of the municipality.
The GMM Executive Mayor comes to the municipality not to loot and pilfer the resources, but to work tirelessly to revive its economic development and prosperity.
The GMM Executive Mayor must be someone who is above reproach.
The GMM Executive Mayor must be someone who is able to read and write.
The GMM Executive Mayor must be someone who has a cognitive and conceptual understanding of socio-economic and political dynamics.
The GMM Executive Mayor must be someone who can easily articulate ideas and positions and more importantly, be able to engage in sober discussions with community members without resorting to barbarism and insults.
The GMM Executive Mayor must lead all the people from the front irrespective of their different political affiliations.
The GMM Executive Mayor must lead with absolute humility and respect towards the people.
The GMM Executive Mayor must not sit in the office idly while people are struggling to get basic services.
The GMM Executive Mayor must always be on the ground with MMCs performing oversight on service delivery.
The GMM Executive Mayor must be driven by the desire to change people’s lives for the better, not by egocentric tendencies of tender manipulation for self-enrichment.
These attributes to the GMM Executive Mayor must also be applicable to the Speaker, Chief Whip, all MMCs and Councillors across the spectrum.
The Govan Mbeki Municipality is named after Isithwalandwe, Treason Trialist, Robben Islander, Intellectual and Scholar of note Dr Govan Mbeki whose name enjoys the reverence of the struggle for national liberation.
His great name must never be besmirched by political charlatans masquerading as political leaders.
The people of the Govan Mbeki municipality must demand the best crop of political leaders to lead this municipality.
