The new mayor of the municipality of Enoch Mgijima Madoda Papiyana.
- Madoda Papiyana was elected mayor of Enoch Mgijima Township Thursday.
- He made national headlines during the harsh lockdown when he was arrested for drunk driving.
- The DA said it would register its displeasure at Papiyana’s choice.
The Eastern Cape prosecutor says he is upset by the election of the ANC’s Madoda Papiyana as mayor of the local Enoch Mgijima municipality, despite his record of being arrested twice during the two-year COVID-19 lockdown.
Papiyana was arrested for driving under the influence and transporting liquor, in violation of confinement regulations.
Papiyana, who is the ANC deputy secretary for Chris Hani’s region, was elected the embattled township’s new mayor during a special council meeting on Thursday.
His election followed the resignation of the former mayor, Thembeka Bunu, earlier that day.
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The Eastern Cape prosecutor is on the warpath and has threatened to write to MEC Zolile Williams of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs to express his “absolute disgust” at the appointment.
Papiyana, an influential leader in the Chris Hani region, one of the largest ANC constituencies in the province, is one of the closest allies of Eastern Cape Prime Minister Oscar Mabuyane.
The DA’s Jane Cowley took issue with the ANC for “rewarding” Papiyana with the job, despite condemning his behavior in the strongest terms when he was arrested in 2020 and 2021.
Cowley said:
The ANC needs to understand one thing: people are tired of supporting a party that is bent on protecting and promoting corrupt and unscrupulous cadre at the expense of service delivery. Komani, once a prosperous and beautiful city, is now a cesspool of filth, sewage and collapsing infrastructure.
In April 2020, Papiyana was arrested on one count of drunk driving and for allegedly violating Level 5 lockdown regulations while transporting liquor.
In that April 17, 2020 incident, Papiyana was arrested for allegedly attempting to flee a roadblock outside of Elliot.
He was charged with breaching the Disaster Management Act and was later released on R1,000 bail.
He was forced to resign his posts as the ANC leader in Chris Hani’s district and as the party’s regional treasurer.
However, he was later reinstated to those positions after the National Prosecutor’s Office (NPA) provisionally dropped the charges against him.
Less than a year later, Papiyana was arrested again over Easter weekend 2021 for allegedly driving under the influence, Eastern Cape police confirmed.
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At the time, SAPS said the 38-year-old man was among 94 arrested for drunk driving at night, around 8pm, and posted R500 bail.
The NPA could not immediately confirm whether the case was still before the courts. Your response will be added upon receipt.
Cowley said the DA would continue to fight for the rights of all citizens in the local municipality of Enoch Mgijima to access basic services, as enshrined in the Constitution.
News24 reached out to Papiyana for comment, but he did not respond, despite promising to do so.
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The ANC’s Eastern Cape Provincial Secretary Lulama Ngcukayithobi and provincial party chairman Oscar Mabuyane could not immediately comment on the matter.
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