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Articles: Zille asks police to protect councillors

Posted by admin on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 07:37 AM

CAPE TOWN — Newly elected Cape Town mayor Helen Zille yesterday said she would ask police to protect councillors in her multiparty government who have been threatened for not supporting the African National Congress (ANC).
Chris van Gass

The Democratic Alliance (DA) mayor leads a coalition of seven parties that denied the ANC leadership of the city. Zille said she had been made aware of the threats, “which amount to political thuggery and are a serious threat to our democracy”. She has requested city police chief Gen Bongani Jonas to immediately return the function of councillor protection to the city’s council support department. The city’s VIP protection unit was transferred to the Cape Town city police by former ANC executive mayor Nomaindia Mfeketo before the March 1 local poll. “It is not clear why the unit was removed from council support by former mayor Nomaindia Mfeketo just days before the election,” said Zille. She said she was working hard at bringing stability to city government and was working through the Multiparty Forum and the DA caucus to finalise the composition of the executive mayoral committee, which will be announced later this week. Zille’s coalition narrowly beat an ANC grouping, taking 106 votes to Mfeketo’s 103 in the battle for the municipality. Zille said stability also relied on identifying financial and legal risks to the city. She has requested city manager Wallace Mgoqi to provide her with a list of all court cases in which the city was involved, including cases before the high court and the appeal court. The list is to include the status of each case, the costs involved and potential financial risks to the city. Zille has instructed Mgoqi to freeze any conversions of council contract posts to permanent positions, pending an audit. “We need to be sure that any posts that are made permanent are for valid reasons, not attempts to secure positions as rewards to ANC loyalists at taxpayers’ expense,” the new mayor said. Zille will table the city’s annual report next Wednesday during a sitting of the council to identify problems in need of urgent attention. “This tabling is unfortunately long overdue,” she said. With Sapa

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