The Limpopo Province had a rude awakening on Friday last week with the announcement that the ANC provincial executive committee had axed five of its mayors in the name of poor management and failure to deliver better services to the communities as reasons for their sacking.

However, it is widely believed to be a politically motivated purge. The axed mayors are all alleged to belong to the Mbeki camp and it is rumoured that they were on the verge of joining the newly established political grouping of Mr Terror Lokota.

The axed mayors, all women, are Angie Ramaepadi of Giyani, Glory Mashaba of Makhado, Tebogo Mohapi of Modimolle, Mary Maphanga of Marble Hall and Refilwe Kubjane of Blouberg. They were immediately relieved of their posts.

The provincial executive committee (PEC) was quick to defend itself and said it was still guided by the resolutions of the Thohoyandou ANC conference held at the University of Venda in July. The resolution called for the recalling of office bearers, who included councillors and MEC’s who didn’t deliver service to the communities.

To show their commitment to service delivery, the PEC visited municipalities in a fact-finding mission, immediately after their taking office, where they interacted with councilors, mayors and other important stakeholders.

Speaking immediately after what he called the recalling of the mayors, provincial ANC secretary Joe Maswanganyi said that the five mayors were dismissed this week due to poor performances and non-delivery to the communities. Maswanganyi said mayors were deployed by the ANC and the organization had the responsibility of recalling them if it deemed this necessary.

“The ANC deployed them, and we can also recall them if we feel they are not dispensing the best service and are not serving their communities well.” He said councilors took an oath that they would serve the people to the best of their abilities when they were appointed and if that was not met, the organization had no option but to recall them.

He said the recalling does not amount to sacking, as they will be assigned appropriate duties in due course. “They are still part of us and they will be deployed to perform other duties in the province and those elected to replace them will be sworn in as soon as possible,” added Maswanganyi.

The redeployment of mayors brings to an end the longstanding feud between the former Makhado mayor, Glory Mashaba, and her municipal manager, Ms Faith Muthambi, whose squabbles had brought service delivery almost to a halt in the municipality. Mashaba was replaced by Mavhungu Lerule, a firebrand ANC mayoral committee member of the Vhembe district. Angy Ramaipadi of Greater Giyani, who was not popular with the local community, was replaced with Doris Mathebula, who was the former corporate services manager in Thulamela Municipality and also a senior manager in the Department of Safety, Security and Liaison in Limpopo. Segoalane Seriti replaced Refilwe Kubjane in the Blouberg municipality, Gariti Lekalakala replaced Tebogo Mohapi at Modimolle and Yvonne Makola will be the new mayor in Greater Marble Hall.

The sacking of mayors and other officials might have a negative impact on the already troubled ruling party. Mr Lucas Nemutanzhela, a municipal structures and political analyst at the University of Limpopo, said the ANC PEC had a mandate of recalling the councilors it had deployed, but the organization should have looked at the current political climate before taking such crucial decisions. Nemutanzhela said it might not surprise anybody if all the sacked mayors and other officials went on to join the new Congress of the People.

If service delivery was the reason behind the sacking of the mayors, then Makhado was the most appropriate example. The feud between the two women at the helm of the municipality, mayor Glory Mashaba and manager Faith Muthambi, has brought service delivery to a halt. Their squabbles date back to 2006 after the appointment of Mashaba as the mayor of the municipality.  Premier Sello Moloto intervened unsuccessfully in the matter and the problem persisted. At one stage, Mashaba’s camp, led by Cllr Albert Muvhumbe, Chief Whip Rufus Selepe and Cllr Lindiwe Lowane, were beaten hands down by Cllrs Norman Mabila and Grace Nkanyane when they tried to influence other Exco members to support their drive not to renew Muthambi’s contract for another five years.

The ANC Youth League (ANCYL) in Vhembe had issued a statement in June this year in which the members insisted that the squabbling between the various factions inside the Makhado Municipality was seriously influencing service delivery and affecting people on the ground. The organization insisted that the mayor, municipal manager and chief whip resign immediately.

The chairperson of the ANCYL in Vhembe, Mr Khathu Mapholi, indicated that a lot of dissatisfaction existed about the way in which those in charge were mishandling the town and its finances. “The ANCYL is not interested in the in-fighting between various people, but is only concerned about service delivery on the ground.”

The league directed its attack to the mayor Gloria Mashaba, municipal manager, Ms Faith Muthambi and the chief whip of the municipality, Cllr Rufus Selepe, accusing them of gossip and squabbling.

A high-profile community member said he was not impressed by the reasons given for the axing of the mayors. “Who will ever believe these liars? They are always cooking up stories to deceive the people. They can fool us once but not always,” he said. The source said he failed to understand why the mayor of Blouberg, who was awarded a national award in 2006 and had already electrified 80% of its villages after being granted a licence, could be labeled as not delivering. “It is clear that there is a hidden agenda behind this and these people should just know that they are digging their own graves as their loss could be Lekota’s gain.”