The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape wants the mayor of the Kgatelopele local municipality, Rene Losper, to reimburse Kgatelopele municipality for the ANC’s irregular usage of electricity during last week’s 109th birthday celebrations of the ANC.
This is according to the DA’s Constituency Head of Idwala, Delmaine Christians MP.
This comes after the DA councillor Silvia Edwards came across members of the ruling party tapping into a streetlight for electricity to power their sound system.
Ms Losper had apparently been aware of the irregular power usage. In fact, not only did she condone it, but she also summoned the technical manager of the municipality, Thulaganyo Barnett, to make what the DA deems to be an illegal connection.
The DA condemns the abuse of electricity by the ANC and in particular by Mayor Losper. It is most unfair that, while everybody else has to pay for electricity, the mayor seems to think it is justified to sponsor free electricity to the ruling party for a purely political event.
If she is prepared to abuse power for the ANC, we can only wonder what other concessions she is making for the ruling party in terms of the abuse of state resources.
Councillor Edwards engaged with the technical manager regarding the matter who indicated that the municipal manager had also been aware of the illegal connection of electricity.
The DA also reported the matter to the South African Police Service (SAPS) who visited the scene, whereafter the ANC eventually packed up the sound system.
Ms Edwards has further prepared a motion to be tabled at the next council sitting to request that the matter be thoroughly investigated, that Ms Losper be held responsible for the utility bill and that measures be put in place to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
Ms Christians has meanwhile submitted a letter to Dr Zamani Saul, in his capacity as chairperson of the ANC, to personally inform him of the party’s behaviour, which is a serious indictment given the state of municipalities across the province and the country. The DA appeals to Dr Saul to look into this matter and to speak out against such blatant abuse of the system in future.
The DA is of the opinion that electricity is an increasingly scarce and critical resource. It should be used with the utmost care and responsibility and protected against all forms of abuse, even abuse by the ruling party.
