The SACP and ANCYL in the Free State have engineered the reinstatement of Kopanong municipality mayor Xolani Tseletsele, who was sacked by ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula recently.
Tseletsele’s membership was also suspended following a viral video depicting him insulting a resident but was lifted after disciplinary proceedings on Friday.
The decision was that he should take anger management classes for three months as well as the 12-month political and leadership course provided by the ANC veterans.
Tseletsele was also told that he should participate and have programmes related to building community-based NGOs, including 16 days of activism programmes, among others.
Tseletsele was also told to write a public apology to show remorse for his actions.
According to insiders, the SACP and the ANCYL demanded that Tseletsele go through fair disciplinary procedures rather than the kangaroo court that was pushed by “greedy” politicians.
They said Tseletsele was being hounded by those have one eye on the R600-million expected to be allocated for the Jagersfontein mine disaster.
Communities in Kopanong also demanded that Tseletsele be brought back as they felt his removal would impact badly on service delivery, including renewal projects that are already underway and the restoration of people’s lives after the Jagersfontein mine disaster last year.
The incident saw the walls of a local mine’s tailings dam break, sending toxic mud crashing into nearby houses, killing one person, injuring many others and killing hundreds of animals.
Tseletsele confirmed he is back in the governing party after his suspension was lifted. “To be back at work feels better, as this means that I’m now re-committing to delivering basic services to our people and ultimately transforming Kopanong, which had collapsed completely for the past 12 years before I took over.”
SACP Free State provincial secretary Bheki Stofile said: “I invested significant time in teaching comrade Tseletsele one or two things in life regarding leadership in particular. We believe he is still young and needs to be guided properly when he errs, and I believe that, as a youngster with ambitions, he will surely have a bright future in politics. We are glad that he is back at the helm to work for the people of Kopanong, as he is a hard worker.
“As the SACP in the province, we support that and welcome Mayor Tseletsele back to work, and I directed him to start where he ended, fighting corruption, malfeasance and maladministration.”
