DA government in Ekurhuleni on verge of collapse as councillors resign

THE DA in Ekurhuleni seems to be crumbling, with a number of councillors resigning and more expected to do so.

The Star has seen two resignation letters from the chief whip of council, Alderman Khetha Shandu, the chair of an oversight committee and ward 25 councillor Peter Henning. In Henning’s resignation letter, he claims that the municipality is in trouble and that there has been little service delivery under the minority government in the region.

“It has been a very hard decision… My health has suffered tremendously over the last 12 months, and with the total lack of service delivery and no support from all departments in Ekurhuleni, I cannot fulfil my mandate as a ward councillor to the residents. Thank you for the support I have received from my time in office,” he said.

understands that there were delays in yesterday’s council meeting because of the resignation of the chief whip. In his resignation letter, he wrote: “I hereby write this letter to formally inform you of my resignation as the whip of council and a councillor of the City of Ekurhuleni due to personal reasons and with immediate effect. Thank you for the support I have received from my time in office.”

Action SA provincial leader Bongani Baloyi said these resignations were indicative of the implosion as a result of the DA’s failures to lead coalitions and accused the DA-led coalition of a failure to address the decline in service delivery in Ekurhuleni.

“Both councillors Shandu and Henning also resigned as City of Ekurhuleni councillors, with Henning citing a ‘total lack of service delivery’ as the reason for his resignation,” Baloyi said.

Meanwhile, the ANC in Ekurhuleni has asked the DA minority government to surrender and hand over the municipality to the ANC.