A controversial Free State mayor accused of being drunk at the provincial January 8 rally in Parys last weekend has denied that she even drinks alcohol.
A video of Maluti-a-Phofung mayor Malekula Melato is circulating on WhatsApp groups, appearing to be unable to stand up during the event while wearing the ANC Women’s League regalia.
”I don’t drink alcohol at all, I don’t know where that comes from,” she explained.
Melato continued: “If people see me jiving and doing all that it’s because that’s what we do in the ANC.”
She said she was kneeling down doing the Basotho traditional dance with her shoulders.
Melato said everyone knew that she was energetic and did not drink.
“I was on the bus with the comrades, we were excited, and jiving. I don’t know what’s wrong with that if a person is excited. Is anyone who is happy drunk? I don’t drink,” she insisted.
Last year, some ANC branches demanded that Melato step aside after being elected despite a 2020 finding by ex-Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, that she was hired as a senior manager at the Lesedi Local Municipality in Gauteng, without the necessary qualifications.
Mkhwebane found that the position required a three-year qualification which Melato did not possess. The executive municipal leadership development programme she completed at the University of Pretoria between February and October 2009, was a short course, and not registered in the national qualifications framework.
Melato was elected mayor in June last year after being interviewed by the ANC’s national executive committee.
In November, she came under fire for providing residents whose houses were damaged by storms plastics to cover their roofs.
Some angry residents demanded answers from Melato, asking what they were supposed to do with the plastics as they were not able to ensure they could withstand strong winds using nails and wires, which damaged easily.
loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za