Rapport newspaper reported this past Sunday that the new DA mayor in Tshwane Stevens Mokgalapa and the rest of his DA councillors now suddenly appear quite happy with City Manager Moeketsi Mosola and plan no further steps against him.
This development came after it was reported that Mosola appointed a third party consultancy firm called GladAfrica to do the project management for infrastructure developments worth R12 billion for the City of Tshwane.
Mosola was appointed in January 2017 by the previous DA major Solly Msimanga. Msimanga tore up the shortlist for the City Manager position and brought in Mosola.
It now appears that Mosola was the EFF’s man and that his appointment was a condition for EFF support in the council. It was widely reported that Mosola then unilaterally appointed GladAfrica despite legal advice from City officials that it is illegal. When the scandal came to light in 2018 in newspaper reports, Msimanga relented under pressure and appointed the law firm Bowmans to do a forensic investigation.
Mosola prevented the release of the forensic investigation through legal action. The EFF also brought a motion of no confidence in Msimanga in 2018 to force Msimanga to stop investigations into Mosola.
Mosola survived because neither the EFF or ANC wanted to agree to the suspension of Mosola.
The Auditor General brought out a report in January 2019 that found the GladAfrica tender was irregular and illegal. Msimanga resigned in February this year, ostensibly to focus on his candidature for the post of Premier of Gauteng, but it seems now that the DA went into a secret agreement with the EFF to make the GladAfrica investigation disappear.
The removal of Msimanga and the bringing in of Mokgalapa appears to be a compromise and cover up agreement. Mokgalapa has also withdrew plans to overturn the illegal GladAfrica contract in court and instead agreed to pay GladAfrica until June when the contract will be wrapped up.
It was previously reported that Mosola already paid GladAfrica about R500 million for consultancy work and that the outstanding work to be done will total another R250 million. It does seem that this huge scandal is now completely buried.
Malema has also recently said that the EFF want to be included in the mayoral committee after the election. Msimanga has also stated that he cant rule out a coalition with the EFF after the election in the Gauteng legislature
