The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Louis Trichardt has called the mayor of Makhado Municipality, Cllr Mavhungu Luruli, a dictator.

In a press statement released on Friday, the party is accusing the mayor of dictating issues at council level. "Cllr Luruli is implementing everything as she wishes, without approval of the executive committee," the DA says in its statement.

According to the DA caucus leader, Cllr Kenny Maboho, the attitude of the mayor surfaced just before the appointment of the municipal manager, Mr Shadrack Tshikalanga. "The executive committee had advised her that, since the local government elections are to be held next year, it would be advisable to put the appointment of the municipal manager in abeyance. The mayor refused and it was eventually agreed that legal opinion on this matter be sought from outside the municipality. Legal advice was compiled and sent to her, but she preferred to present it to Exco, as it was not to her liking," said Maboho.

Maboho added that the DA was also concerned about the R16 million budget for the Tshakhuma road. "The project is suspicious, because the money was supposed to have been shared among the four regions, namely Dzanani, Waterval, Makhado and Vuwani," he said, adding that the most burning issue was that the mayor continued to dictate when there was no quorum within the Exco. She (the mayor) pushed an unapproved IDP document to council for adoption, the DA accuses.

Commenting on the accusations during an interview with Mirror last Friday, Luruli said that she was not surprised by these statements from the DA, because "now that we are heading towards the local government elections, people want to dent my image. The DA opposes everything we do, even when we are doing good things. Now that there is nothing to oppose, they want to attack the mayor."

She said people had their own interests in as far as the Tshakhuma road was concerned and she was not going to entertain that. "The Tshakhuma´s ring road project started in 2006 as phase one, before I even became the mayor of Makhado Municipality. Tshakhuma is a village which is growing economically. It is the economic hub of our municipality, therefore improving the roads is important and as the mayor I want the project to continue. We are still going to install lights and other projects are to follow," said Luruli.

Luruli added that she is no dictator. "I am a leader and I am very accommodating towards people. That is why I always listen to the masses through the IDP process. I am committed to take this municipality forward."

She said people should be happy about these developments instead of just opposing it. "Tshakhuma is regarded as the fruit basket of Limpopo. The Vhembe District Municipality has recently launched the Tshakhuma Fresh Produce Market in Tshakhuma at a cost of R6 million. This (the new road) will enable residents of Tshakhuma to transport fruit to the Johannesburg Fresh Produce Market, which in return will boost the economy of Limpopo, Vhembe and Makhado in particular," she said.

With regard to the appointment of the new municipal manager, Luruli said that the municipality had been without a municipal manager for quite some time. "We can’t always depend on acting municipal managers. The municipality needed a municipal manager, as the administrative process needs to continue running even though we are preparing for an election. We didn´t have to wait for the election to appoint a municipal manager," she said.