"OOM Ben" Fihla has not even taken up his position as mayor and already the sparks are flying and probably for good reason. In a way one can only feel sorry for him as no confidence is being shown by all and sundry.
On the other hand one must also consider the fact that the man was ready for retirement when the ANC took control of this country. He was probably one of those forgotten ones.
However, Jacob Zuma, realising this oversight, probably told Oom Ben not to worry as a fantastic retirement plan had been devised for him. The only prerequisite would be that he would have to look after the Nelson Mandela Metro for about a year.
After this period he can merely complain that the job is too much for him (which I guess it will be) and presto, he has earned himself a few million a year as a retirement package with the compliments of the taxpayers. Needless to say, even if he had to just sit in his office all day doing nothing, he could not mess up the metro any more than the state it is in at the moment.
So, good luck to Oom Ben spending his "pre-retirement" period in the mayor's office, merely obeying orders from the higher powers.
Obviously that would have been part of the bargain.
George van der Merwe, South End, Port Elizabeth
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