In last week’s edition of Mo Media, our headline story was that of axed North West Chair of Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Transport, Mmoloki Cwaile, and eight other members, five of whom were also permanently expelled.
The five expelled ANC Councillors from North West claim that the Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) unfairly dismissed them and alleged that the party's "real motive" was to prosecute them for rejecting the appointment of "fraudster" Councillor Gotsilekgosi Batsi.
This comes after the Councillors of Mamusa Local Municipality were expelled for allegedly voting with the opposition in North West and notified about it via a media statement issued on social media last Monday.
Speaking to Media 24 last Thursday, the Councillors' representative, Tebogo Ramose, said the group was challenging the deployment of Batsi, whom they said had no honour and lacked moral integrity.
The group said that Batsi needed to fit the necessary and specific criteria to qualify him for the position of municipality speaker, adding that he did not possess a matric certificate, nor had the requisite five years of experience in local government.
On Wednesday, the Councillors – Lesego Motlapele, Gontse Kock, Tshepo Khwenanyane, Mittah Chelechele, and Tumisho Tlhole – held a media briefing where they declared that they would not be intimidated nor back off from fighting the ANC's decision to "permanently expel" them.
Ramose said the group had been challenging the deployment of Batsi following the PEC's election, in which Councillors were "instructed" to "install" him and replace Motlapele as Speaker.
He said: "After the election, the officials of the PEC summoned the Councillors to attend a meeting in Rustenburg. It was on the 2nd of September, 2022. In the meeting, (PEC) instructed that within seven days, they must install or appoint Batsi as the Speaker of Mamusa. Meaning they must remove ANC's Motlapele."
On the seventh day, the Councillors wrote a "comprehensive response" to the PEC explaining why the committee would be an accomplice to Batsi's appointment following the evidence gathered, which was presented by the group, said Ramose.
"Electing this person who has misled the ANC regarding his suitability will undermine the guidelines and their pledge, which they took as the ANC Councillors. It will undermine the contract of deployment, which demands that they must only elect honourable leaders, people with integrity," he said.
The five Councillors said they could not express their views and objections to the decision.
They allegedly advised the PEC about Batsi, adding that he "had misrepresented his qualifications and falsified his CV, thereby misleading the ANC North West Interim Provincial Committee and NEC in appointing him as the speaker".
The Councillors claimed that Batsi lied about possessing a matric certificate, saying: “We pause to say this is a lie because Batsi does not have a matric; his recent attempt to pass his matric was last year in 2022, which he still failed. Notably, Gotsilekgosi Batsi would have been the only Speaker of the ANC without a matric/Grade 12,” they stated.
The quintet (5) added that they had discovered that he had submitted fake qualifications from Timothy Training Institution. They said this was in breach of the ANC's Constitution and a crime in terms of "the National Qualifications Framework Act of 2019", advising the PEC to open a criminal case.
"The ANC pledge we took as ANC Councillors, among other things, enjoins us to deploy honourable and competent local leaders, as well as to spare no effort in rooting out corruption and all forms of nepotism and malfeasance in our organization and all levels of government," said the expelled ANC members.
The Councillors further revealed that the former Municipal Mayor abused his position and that a protection order was issued against him in 2021. Adding to the allegations, the group claimed that Batsi rigged branch processes, earning him a "fraudulent delegate status in the North West Provincial Conference, resulting in the election of the current PEC".
They "contend that he is rewarded for actively contributing to the current ANC PEC".
The Councillors have warned the Provincial Disciplinary Committee Chairperson, Vuyo Peach, against "deliberately misrepresenting facts to embellish his factional ruling by suggesting that we are expelled for installing a speaker of the EFF".
This comes after Peach issued a statement claiming that the reason for expelling the five councillors was for "impeding the organization’s activity. Creating division within the ranks or membership; acting on behalf of, or in collaboration with, counter-revolutionary forces, a political organization or party other than an organization or party in alliance with the ANC in a manner contrary to the aims, policies, and objectives of the ANC".
The group declared they would appeal the decision and "vigorously challenge the attempts to expel us for refusing to carry out factional and unlawful instructions".
Mo Media spoke to Gotsilekgosi Batsi in our efforts to get his response and reaction towards allegations levelled against him, and he responded as thus: "I wanted to give you my side of the story, unfortunately, after receiving legal advice from my lawyers. I am unable to divulge anything at the moment. We will have to wait until the legal process has unfolded and completed. Hence I am taking one of the publications for litigation. They published a story with a legal bearing without giving me a chance to express my views and opinion. Until then, I cannot say anything that might compromise the pending legal process," Batsi stated.
