Africa-Press – South-Africa. Political parties are incensed by Midvaal Local Municipality Mayor Peter Teixeira’s decision to allow the DA’s Gauteng leader, Solly Msimanga, to speak at the state of the municipality address (Soma).
Now, ActionSA and Xiluva want answers from the mayor about the incident which they said breached government ethics.
In a statement on Thursday, ActionSA’s Gauteng chairperson, Funzi Ngobeni, said the party had written to Teixeira and speaker Alan McLoughlin to explain why Msimanga addressed residents at Soma.
Ngobeni, who has accused the party of hypocrisy, bashed the DA-led municipality for using state resources and its platform to campaign and advance its interests rather than “represent the interest of all residents”.
The statement read: “As a party which adheres to ethical leadership, ActionSA believes that no government resource or platform should be used to advance the interest of a single political party when it is intended to represent the interest of all residents.”
Ngobeni said although the party often accused the ANC of incorrectly using state resources for its benefit, it had followed its lead and did the same thing.
He added:
Ngobeni said this was a “bald-faced breach of government ethics, specifically the doctrine of the separation of party and state, given that Msimanga holds no government position and is, in fact, a member of the Gauteng legislature”.
Xiluva leader Bongani Baloyi added it was a “new low for the DA” and the party would communicate the measures it would take to handle the incident.
Baloyi is the former mayor of the DA-run municipality.
In a tweet posted on Thursday, he congratulated Teixeira on his address.
However, Baloyi said Msimanga’s presence at Soma was a “massive erosion of the separation of powers between political parties and the state, and principles of good governance. This is an affront to the residents of Midvaal”.
He added Soma was meant to convey the municipality’s plans and update its progress rather than “affording your political principles the platform to electioneer at the expense of the residents”.
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