The appointment of BCM acting chief financial officer Vincent Pillay has exposed the regional rift in the ruling party, with the metro’s current and former mayors facing off over the issue.Pillay’s role came under scrutiny after a confidential report was tabled behind closed doors at a council meeting on Friday.
Those who lost everything in Sunday’s deadly storm spent the night sheltering in an East London community hall while officials co-ordinated disaster-response efforts. At least two people were killed and many others were left homeless as gale-force winds reaching up to 124km/h ripped off roofs, uprooted trees, caused power outages and left families homeless. Many areas were left without electricity and a school lost part of its roof.
The provincial ANC leadership has decided not to fill the position of Buffalo City Metro deputy mayor at least for now. Provincial spokesperson Loyiso Magqashela on Friday indicated that there were no immediate plans to fill the post. The position became vacant when Princess Faku was elected executive mayor last week.
Re-elected mayor of Buffalo City Metro, Xola Pakati, called on all in the new council to work together well. “May we never fail nor betray the people of Buffalo City Metro."
Several senior Buffalo City Metro ANC councillors who had served in outgoing mayor Xola Pakati's mayoral committee, find themselves in the political wilderness after they failed to make the cut in the metro's proportional representation list.