09 November 2023

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in the Free State is concerned about the overt display of arrogance in the Matjhabeng Local Municipality, particularly, the conduct of the Executive Mayor and the apparent protection he enjoys from the political structures of the movement.

With the developments that have been uncovered at Matjhabeng, it is important for the leadership to give the Executive Mayor some breathing space. We suspect that should he remain in office; it is going to be very bruising for the African National Congress and the Alliance as a whole.

We are acutely worried that leadership may be in an escalation of responsibility mode, where the leadership chooses to protect an individual leader against the interests of the majority. Our hopes that things would be done differently, and that renewal would be central to decision making are fast dwindling.

We have engaged and tabled our reasons in an internal engagement with the ANC. They defended the deployee, but we had hoped that beyond the meeting, the leadership would at least try to verify our issues and get back to us.

We will not be gagged by internal processes which have not yielded positive results when our members continue to suffer at the hands of Matjhabeng Mayor.

We hope and believe that the ANC will do the right thing, otherwise we are going to escalate the matters to Luthuli House for intervention. We will always be prepared to engage for an intention to resolve issues, but we will not engage for the sake of engaging! Our members and their interests come first!

The struggle continues!

Issued by COSATU Free State

For more information, please contact:

Monyatso oa Mahlatsi(COSATU Free State Provincial Secretary)
Tel: 051 447 5499
Cell: 076 115 9923