ANC chief whip in hot water
30 July 2010, 14:07
By Ella Smook
Metro Writer
The speaker of the City of Cape Town is set to take disciplinary action against the opposition ANC's chief whip, Peter Gabriel, following a press statement in which Gabriel condemned the "purging of senior African staff".
It was decided during a closed meeting this week that the contract of Bulumko Msengana, the city's executive director of utility services, would not be renewed.
According to Gabriel's statement, Msengana would be given a "part-time extension".
"The trend in Cape Town to target African managers undermines the administration's stability and is highly suspicious, Gabriel said in his statement.
"It reeks of underhanded tactics because the DA in the council meeting could not offer one reason why Dr Msengana's contract couldn't be extended."
Asked to respond to the ANC's allegations, council chief whip Anthea Serritslev said the meeting had been closed. She slammed Gabriel for breaking council's confidentiality agreements, calling his actions "outrageous" and "breaking all trust".
"Council rules say anything on green (paper) is strictly confidential and may not go out of the room... it is one of the strictest rules we have," she said.
Serritslev said she had discussed it with Speaker Dirk Smit, who would take "immediate" disciplinary action against Gabriel. Asked for a response, Gabriel said his understanding was that once a matter was resolved by council, it became a public matter, which meant he did not breach the rules.
Asked why he believed the DA administration was purging African leaders in the city, Gabriel said Msengana had been appointed by the ANC in 2005. Despite Msengana asking for an extension of his five-year contract, the DA had ended it without giving any reason.
Mayor Dan Plato said Gabriel's statement was factually incorrect because the city was retaining Msengana, but could not appoint him for another five-year period as the local government elections were set to take place next year and his appointment would be traversing administrations.
Msengana could not be reached for comment.
Metro Writer
The speaker of the City of Cape Town is set to take disciplinary action against the opposition ANC's chief whip, Peter Gabriel, following a press statement in which Gabriel condemned the "purging of senior African staff".
It was decided during a closed meeting this week that the contract of Bulumko Msengana, the city's executive director of utility services, would not be renewed.
According to Gabriel's statement, Msengana would be given a "part-time extension".
"The trend in Cape Town to target African managers undermines the administration's stability and is highly suspicious, Gabriel said in his statement.
"It reeks of underhanded tactics because the DA in the council meeting could not offer one reason why Dr Msengana's contract couldn't be extended."
Asked to respond to the ANC's allegations, council chief whip Anthea Serritslev said the meeting had been closed. She slammed Gabriel for breaking council's confidentiality agreements, calling his actions "outrageous" and "breaking all trust".
"Council rules say anything on green (paper) is strictly confidential and may not go out of the room... it is one of the strictest rules we have," she said.
Serritslev said she had discussed it with Speaker Dirk Smit, who would take "immediate" disciplinary action against Gabriel. Asked for a response, Gabriel said his understanding was that once a matter was resolved by council, it became a public matter, which meant he did not breach the rules.
Asked why he believed the DA administration was purging African leaders in the city, Gabriel said Msengana had been appointed by the ANC in 2005. Despite Msengana asking for an extension of his five-year contract, the DA had ended it without giving any reason.
Mayor Dan Plato said Gabriel's statement was factually incorrect because the city was retaining Msengana, but could not appoint him for another five-year period as the local government elections were set to take place next year and his appointment would be traversing administrations.
Msengana could not be reached for comment.
- This article was originally published on page 4 of The Cape Argus on July 30, 2010
Cape Town
