Cape Town — Mayor of the Nkomazi municipality in Mpumalanga, Phindile Magagula, had a criminal case opened against her following allegations that she benefitted from illegally-connected electricity at her house.
It is believed that Magagula admitted to the this after she did an interview with Ligwagwala FM, saying it was not her primary residence but a new house in Aniva where the community made a contribution of R40 000 for the installation of electricity years ago, TimesLIVE said.
“Aniva … started in 2017 and I have a stand there but I don’t live in the house. This is politically motivated because I was not the only one who uses the electricity. We contributed and paid money, about R40 000. We were not advised to apply for a transformer [directly from Eskom]. The electricity was connected from 2021. I was not even a mayor and I didn’t know I would be a mayor at the time,” said Magagula.
Municipal spokesperson, Cyril Ripinga, said the municipality was not in a position to respond to the allegations or give an indication of any disciplinary measures it could impose.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) released a statement laid criminal charges against Magagula at Schoemansdal Police Station. The Mayor’s admission signals the level of corruption that is perpetuated by the ANC government. The DA finds the mayor’s conduct very dishonorable and unethical, Nosipho Dlamini said.
For years, the municipality has been battling with cable copper theft without any tangible solution.
“This explains why the municipality has been reluctant in finding a long-term solution to cable theft, despite the fact that replacing stolen cables costs millions of unbudgeted rands. One would expect the municipality’s executive mayor to speak against this and try to eliminate it. But, ironically, the mayor is allegedly championing this illegal conduct.” Dlamini said.
🚨🚨DA LAYS CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST NKOMAZI MAYOR
We have laid criminal charges against the municipality’s executive mayor, Phindile Magagula at Schoemansdal Police Station.
Read more: https://t.co/QjEMomQVBw pic.twitter.com/vhu8J0eUvo
— DA Mpumalanga (@DA_Mpumalanga) March 5, 2024
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
