There's no political 'witch hunt' against AfriForum, says Tshwane coalition

JOHANNESBURG - The governing coalition in the City of Tshwane says there is no political "witch hunt" against lobby group Afriforum, as it reviews the organisation's ties to the municipality.

The Tshwane Municipality recently announced it was reviewing 68 memorandums of understanding (MOU) entered into by previous administrations.

At a media briefing on Wednesday in the Tshwane Council chambers, the city announced it's also reviewing its MOU with AfriForum, which includes the maintenance of some of the city's facilities.

During the six-month-long labour strike by Tshwane employees, Afriforum provided the city with security.

The minority interest lobby group is now assisting the city with cutting municipal grass and fencing off parks - among other things.

Tshwane Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya says the city has not paid a single cent to AfriForum for this, however concerns have been raised about the MOU.

"In the MOU itself, there is a provision where AfriForum is given access to the infrastructure of the city and we're dealing with a lot of theft and vandalism, and we need to get to a point where we have a hold on who has access to the infrastructure of the city.

"Afriforum is an organisation in our city like any other, we have 68 of these MOU's, we then said can we not single out AfriForum," she explained.

"Yes there is public scrutiny, yes we have said things before about the relationship about the city and AfriForum. Can we review these MOUs in line with our vision of equitable service delivery in the city?"

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Tshwane says it welcomes the mayor's decision to review the MOU rather than cancelling it altogether as the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) had suggested.