The acting Chief Magistrate, Lindiwe Mbassa, led the ceremony for the Umkhonto Wesizwe veteran Nthatisi and the Mangaung ANC regional chairperson, Lawrence Mathae, on Tuesday 28 March 2023 at the Bram Fischer Building, housing the municipal council.

The swearing-in of Nthatisi and Mathae comes after the embattled former mayor Mxolisi Siyonzana and the speaker Stefani Lockman-Naidoo resigned from their respective positions, following a fallout with the Mangaung ANC structure.

The acting Chief Magistrate, Lindiwe Mbassa, and the Mangaung ANC regional chairperson, Lawrence Mathae.

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Nthatisi was selected by the ANC's national structure National Executive Committee (NEC) from a crop of three candidates, which included the former Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) Lulama Titi, among others. 

The Mangaung Council is set to sit on Wednesday 29 March 2023 and elect Nthatisi as the mayor. It's not clear if the ANC will select Mathae to run for the position of the speaker to replace Lockman-Naidoo.

Currently, Deputy Mayor Mapaseka Nkoane-Mothibi is acting as the mayor of the troubled municipality, which is still under national government intervention.

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Whilst welcoming the swearing-in of these two councillors to the metro council, the National Cabinet Representative, Gugu Malaza, said this has been a turmoil period for the municipality and she hopes that the new addition to the council will help steer the city in a different direction.

"As the NCR, I am responsible for the implementation of the financial recovery plan. It gives me great pleasure knowing that we will be replacing political leadership and I believe this will provide the structural direction that the municipality needs. I wish you the best in your duties and you must know that it's not business as usual, we are going to require you to put yourselves in the shoes of the residents of Mangaung and commit to serving them with pride," Malaza said.

Recently the ANC Mangaung Regional spokesperson, Ncamile Nxangisa, said: “The ANC in Mangaung had the privilege of being briefed by the Free State Provincial Executive Committee of the ANC, led by the secretary, comrade Polediso Motsoeneng, that indeed the executive mayor of Mangaung, comrade Mxolisi Siyonzana, handed in his resignation letter as both the executive mayor and councillor in the Mangaung Metro Municipal Council. We immediately accepted and thanked the councillor for a sterling contribution spanning more than 10 years in that municipality,”

Umkhonto Wesizwe veteran, Gegory Nthatisi.

The move to redeploy him comes after the ailing metro went through a series of service delivery challenges and failures for years, which at some time left residents angry and ultimately engaging in protests. ANC PEC spokesperson, Jabu Mbalula, previously told OFM News that the party's PEC undertook a robust and honest reflection on the governance and local government level.

“As a consequence, there is an appreciation that misalignment exists between the ANC election manifesto and the performance of our government. The PEC affirmed the 9th provincial conference resolution that extraordinary efforts are needed to strengthen both the provincial and local governments. In this regard, the PEC resolved to redeploy the Free State Premier, Cde Sefora Ntombela and Siyonzana. The PEC mandated its officials to engage the national officials to process and finalise the decision.

The ANC in the province wishes to thank these comrades for their contribution to the portfolios within which they were deployed. Furthermore, the PEC appreciates the comradely spirit with which the said comrades received the ANC's decision,” Mbalula added.

OFM News