Former Buffalo City metro executive mayor Xola Pakati. (buffalocitymetro.gov.za)
Buffalo City metro mayor Xola Pakati has requested a meeting with the ANC’s national officials after he was recalled by the provincial executive committee (PEC), claiming he was a victim of an unfair process.
In a letter to the party’s top seven seen by the Mail & Guardian, Pakati said provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi had ambushed him during a meeting of the WB Rubusana regional general council, telling him that he had been recalled with the blessing of the ANC’s top seven officials.
“No reasons were furnished to me,” Pakati said, adding that just minutes later, a journalist called him to ask when he would resign. He claimed provincial leaders had been conducting “highly problematic interviews” devoid of truth which harmed his reputation.
On 8 March, the PEC released a statement announcing his recall after an internal organisational consultation. It said the decision was taken after due consideration and an assessment by the provincial working committee of the performance of the Buffalo City municipality.
“ANC’s approach to this matter has, at all times, been informed by the interests of the Buffalo City broader community. The provincial leadership has ever since submitted three names to the national officials for the purposes of the interview process, after which all other processes will kick-in,” it said.
The M&G understands those three names include deputy mayor Princess Faku, council speaker Humphrey Maxegwana, and member of the mayoral committee for human settlements Ntombizandile Mhlola.
Ngcukayitobi said the media must allow Pakati to “heal” from his recall, adding: “The ANC is processing the selection process of a mayor beyond the current mayorship. Soon we will be having a new mayor.”
In his letter, Pakati questioned how the provincial leaders had come to this decision and slammed statements made by them about his recall, saying he should have been consulted first.
“I wish to point out the falsity of the reasons that are being advanced. For the falsity of the reasons advanced I would like to humbly request a meeting with the national officials to engage me in a comradery manner … I believe that as an organisation we should think deeply about the wider political implications of our decision making on the integrity of the ANC,” he said, adding that he accepted the decision on his recall.
Pakati said he had complied with decisions made by the ANC, including the appointment of a mayoral committee and city manager handpicked by the party, and that he had complied with the party directive to give powers to the deputy mayor, including over the metro’s development agency.
He added that he had submitted reports and updates on work undertaken in the metro to both the regional executive committee (REC) and the PEC.
“In all these platforms, no mention was ever made of total collapse or that I lack urgency. Instead, there were directives for us to work hard on certain areas and I believe the resolutions of the REC lekgotla can best shed light on this,” he wrote.
“The allegation that I do not heed instructions from the PEC or the region is evidently untruthful. I must however indicate that I do not meddle in the appointment of staff. I always tell the city manager and the administration to appoint the right person for the job. I have a similar approach to procurement. I do not instruct the administration to appoint a particular company.”
Pakati said national treasury officials had recently visited the city and spoke approvingly of service delivery, and that he had changed the physical makeup of the city — commencing with the rolling out of smart water and electricity metres as well as a rapid pothole patching programme.
His recall came despite the city receiving an unqualified audit and a 90% score from the national treasury as a municipality, owing to its environment performance plan, Pakati added.
“We are one of the most stable metros in the country and fully run by the ANC,” he insisted.
“We had thought that as we advance towards the 2024 general elections, the ANC would use this success … and others throughout government to demonstrate to country that the movement is not a basket case and to deny in particular the DA [the chance to] force-feed the electorate with the subliminal racist claim that only they are capable of governing better. In this context it is grossly wrong to allege in our public communication that Buffalo City has collapsed and provide the opposition with low hanging fruit.”
Pakati said he had assumed mayorship of the city amid a serious trust deficit following the scandal in which 14 ANC councillors — including the then mayor — were arrested over the R10 million paid by the metro for the funeral and memorial service of Nelson Mandela in December 2013.
He said the metro had worked hard to remedy the trust deficit, as shown in the outcomes of the 2021 local elections.