The ANC provincial leadership is reportedly planning to reinstate Thanduxolo Khalipha, the suspended mayor of Welkom-based municipality. 

The union has vowed to mount radical resistance should the ANC attempt to force Khalipha back into office, particularly in light of his past legal issues and the current stability at the municipality.

Provincial Cosatu Secretary Tiisetso Mahlatsi expressed concern over the claims of ANC plans to reintroduce Khalipha despite his criminal conviction.

Khalipha, who was placed on suspension by the ANC provincial leadership due to legal cases against him, was found guilty in November by the Odendaalsrus Magistrate’s Court of common assault and crimen injuria after assaulting his bodyguard.

Mahlatsi said despite this, the party plans to reinstate Khalipha as mayor and pay him the salary he missed during his suspension. He condemned this move, calling it an affront to the principles of justice and an insult to the workers, residents, and communities in Matjhabeng.

Cosatu had learned “with profound indignation and moral outrage” about ANC efforts to bring Khalipha back into power and to compensate him for the six months he did not work, Mahlatsi said.

Such a decision would be an injustice, given that the municipality has been stable in Khalipha’s absence, and workers had endured harsh conditions, including a prolonged three-month strike during which they were subjected to “no work, no pay”.

“The ANC’s actions to reintroduce Khalipha through the back door will not be tolerated,” Mahlatsi said. “This is a direct threat to the dignity of the workers.

“They have suffered for months, and it’s an insult to see someone who did not work for the past six months being paid a salary while they were denied that same basic right.”

Mahlatsi added ANC caucus meetings, which were allegedly designed to pressurise the municipal council into voting for Khalipha’s return, are a thinly veiled attempt to undermine the will of the workers and the residents of Matjhabeng.

He criticised Khalipha’s leadership, pointing out the municipality had collapsed under his tenure. Khalipha’s leadership was marked by disunity, widespread corruption, and a series of crises that left the municipality in disarray.

OFM News has sent an inquiry to ANC Free State.

OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi mvh