NOTICE OF INTENTION TO SUBMIT A PETITION FROM THE COMMUNITY CALLING FOR THE REMOVAL
OF THE CURRENT WARD 82 CLAREMONT COUNCILLOR, MR AHMOD KHANA

For the attention of the DA (Democratic Alliance) Chief Whip

On Behalf of CONCERNED residents of Ward 82 Claremont

In terms of Section 19 of the Code of Conduct (SALGA) South African Local Government Association, ward councillors are bound by specific Service Delivery competencies. If they do not meet key measurable requirements a vote of no confidence can be tabled by stakeholders and the community.

After considerable consultations with residents and multiple attempts to liaise with and get Cllr AHMOD KHANA to engage with the community, and report back on issues that have been raised with him over the last 6 – 7 months and receiving little to no meaningful assistance, we are hereby notifying the DA of our intention to compile a petition calling for the removal of Cllr Khana. The Cllr has not followed through on any of his responsibilities about any reporting procedures, handling queries and complaints in the Ward 82 Claremont. He blatantly refused to resolve any disputes community members raised directly with him. The community also requested a special meeting to have our concerns raised and to meet the Cllr so we can work with him, but the Cllr chose to rather work against the Community.

What follows is a list of the areas of non-performance by Cllr Khana:

The responsibility to report back to constituencies and communities. In the past 6-7 months of his tenure as councillor in Ward 82, Cllr Khana has had no community meetings or feedback sessions. No attempt was made by the Cllr to engage with Claremont community either via pamphlets or on the hundreds of Whatsapp groups that exist.

The community is currently beset by problems with electricity, water supply, crime and infrastructure damage. The councillor is required to report, at least quarterly, to constituencies on council matters and the progress being made in certain problem areas. This has not been done.

- Councillors are required to report on the performance of the municipalities in terms of established indicators in order to ensure their obligations to the community are fulfilled. This has not been done nor adhered to.

- A councillor must perform the functions of office in good faith and honesty and in a transparent manner. He needs to act in the best interest of the municipality and in such a manner that does not compromise the integrity of the municipality. The community that he is supposed to service have lost all belief and trust in Cllr Khana and as a result in the municipality and the DA.

- He holds "special" meetings with his close friends but refuse to have meetings with the community at large. We however understand that he was recently appointed but he has chosen selective areas to conduct his meetings. Meetings that were scheduled at Danie Van Zyl Hall was not communicated to Claremont community, the community by chance came across these scheduled meetings by other groups where the Cllr is actively involved. At that meeting he was not even present. So we not part of his chosen few and definitely not a priority to him.

- The DA for Region B has also failed to attend any meetings with the CPF, continually citing conflict of meeting dates. Which means that they have done nothing to support the community’s efforts to curtail the crime wave that continues to worsen.

- A councillor is obligated to attend each meeting of committees for which he is a member. He failed to inform the community when committee voting was opened for the 2022 to 2025 term.

- If a councillor doesn’t attend meetings of a committee 3 or more times (other than municipal/council) that the councillor is required to attend in terms of item 3 then said councillor must be removed from office.

- Disclosure of interests. A councillor may not use the position or privileges of their position for private gain or to improperly benefit another person. We believe that Cllr Khana is guilty of this practice by passing off associates as stakeholders.

- The councillor is obligated to assist residents and constituents or at the very least have the integrity to engage people who can actually be of great support and assistance. The community is supposed to be able to bring almost every problem they are experiencing to the councillor and reasonably expect to be assisted. This has not proven to be the case with Cllr Khana. This has resulted in residents often having to liaise directly with National and Provincial spheres of Government in order to have their issues dealt with in a timeous manner. MPL Bishop Adams had to assist with our electricity issue, we were without electricity for 4 consecutive days. This has become a norm in our community.

- Ward 82 Claremont is beset by problems with open communal areas not being managed. Fields and parks aren’t cleaned and become hotspots for illegal dumping. The crime rate and addiction levels (which includes Lolly houses) are out of control and electricity is a weekly concern in terms of outages besides the normal scheduled load shedding time. Most troubling though is that for almost 6 months our water supply has been unreliable. Currently we haven’t had a steady supply of water. Prior to the water Infrastructure/Maintenance Restoration.

When approached about these issues Cllr Khana either doesn’t respond on WhatsApp or gives non-committal replies or does not answer calls deliberately. He suggested an open door policy on the WhatsApp Group when he joined our group (which was the last time he actually did something right) and advised that we can keep him accountable and come to his house. Which we did on the 4th June 2022 as usual he was not available, as per his neighbour he was visiting his daughter while we had to stand in the cold at Hursthill Sub Station for 3 consecutive days. When he heard that the Community was at his home that is when the Cllr called and indicated that the community harassed him, he was not at home so how contradictory of his statement. Residents are left to escalate or even raise problems of service delivery themselves and receive absolutely no communication about the situation. The Cllr did not involve the community of Claremont in any planning and policy making processes to specific programmes or projects that are being implemented. No campaigns on issues affecting the community was conducted or even communicated. No transparency and promoting the community involvement was raised or highlighted.

Reminder of our Constitutional Rights

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 – Chapter 7 Section 152

Local Government and embodies the core principles that inform the basis of developmental local government in South Africa. Section 152 of the Constitution sets out the overall objectives of local government.

152 (1) the objects of local government are –

(a) To provide democratic and accountable government for local communities;

(b) To ensure the provision of services to communities in a sustainable manner;

(c) To promote social and economic development;

(d) To promote a safe and healthy environment; and

(e) To encourage the involvement of communities and community organizations in the matter of local government

Cllr Khana has not adhered to any of the above duties/responsibilities, nor has he reached out to the Community. He rather threatens the community and verbally abuses them.

We are hereby officially requesting that a vote of no confidence in Cllr Ahmod Khana who represents Ward 82 Claremont has been absent since November last year to date.

Yours sincerely,


ON BEHALF OF THE RESIDENTS OF WAR