Mampara of the week: John Mpe

Long before election fever hit our shores, residents of Seshego in Polokwane have experienced prolonged water cuts. Despite many complaints little was done to resolve the situation with the urgency it required. When members of the community decided they’d had enough and organised a shutdown over the water crisis, Polokwane mayor John Mpe cried foul, blaming the protest on imaginary political opponents who, he said, wanted to use the problem as a political tool to wrest power from him and his ANC.

“The issue of a shutdown is a political programme for those who want to launch their campaign in our city,” he told the public broadcaster. Maybe mobilising the community over the water issue to search for new leaders is not a bad idea, as Mampara Mpe has plainly been napping on the job.