The African National Congress (ANC) in the North West is set to haul the recently ousted mayor of the Greater Taung Local Municipality, Tumisang Gaoraelwe, before a disciplinary committee. This move follows his removal from office via a motion of no confidence sponsored by his own party last week.
Gaoraelwe’s removal came after he repeatedly refused to resign, despite being formally recalled by the ANC over a year ago. His defiance forced the party to take the unprecedented step of tabling a motion of no confidence against its own deployee.
A spokesperson for the ANC in the province confirmed the impending disciplinary action. “The provincial executive committee has taken a decision that the mayor must be subjected to internal processes in terms of disciplinary processes of the ANC, and that is what is going to happen,” the spokesperson said. Emphasizing the party’s authority, the spokesperson added, “The ANC is the one that deploys, and when we deploy you, that position is the position of the ANC and not an individual… we expect our deployees to obey those decisions… unfortunately, if comrades decide not to do so, consequence management must be met against them.”
The mayor’s tenure, which began in 2021, was marred by controversy, including his involvement in several accidents with municipal vehicles. Opposition parties, while welcoming his removal, criticized the ANC’s leadership choices.
A spokesperson for the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) stated, “It corroborates our long-held contention that the mayor for Taung municipality is incompetent… he also misused resources and assets of the municipality… the African National Congress is unable to produce or even deploy capable people who can take the municipality forward.”
A representative from the Democratic Alliance (DA) said the removal was “long overdue,” citing the financial impact of the mayor’s accidents. “The mayor has been involved in a lot of car accidents which came at a very exorbitant cost to the municipality… we are losing a lot of money because of that. I think estimates are at about just shy of 2 million [rand].”
Residents in Taung expressed frustration with Gaoraelwe’s performance. One resident stated, “I say it is good that he left because he was not doing anything for us.” Another lamented the state of service delivery: “Service delivery in Taung is very terrible. We travel on roads that are in a very bad condition… Our cars often break down.” A further criticism highlighted a common grievance: “The problem is that when it’s voting time, you come here, but you forget us when you are in power.”
Following Gaoraelwe’s removal, SAB has been elected as the new mayor of the Greater Taung Local Municipality. Attempts to solicit comment from the former mayor were unsuccessful.