The Tshwane Metro is still leaderless with several delays in electing a new mayor. (Photo: City of Tshwane/Twitter)
The multi-party coalition in the Tshwane metro is considering legal action after an intended motion of no confidence in the speaker did not take place on Monday.
Mncedi Ndzwanana, speaker and member of the African Transformation Movement (ATM), adjourned the council meeting before the motion could go before the council. Ndzwanana labeled the council meeting as “illegal”.
Johann Mettler, city manager of Tshwane, convened the council meeting after receiving a petition from the DA and its coalition partners’ councillors. The multi-party coalition requested Ndzwanana to convene a special session last week, but he refused.
“Here you have a majority multi-party coalition and its agenda to elect mayors and speakers is being undermined by a minority on the other side led by the ANC and EFF,” said Michael Beaumont, chairman of ActionSA.
“The question we have to ask ourselves is who is suffering as a result of this instability brought by the ANC, the EFF and their coalition partners. And there can be no doubt that the residents of Tshwane are paying for this. The ANC and EFF should hang their heads in shame for this action.”
Ndzwanana also postponed a council meeting last week during which a new mayor was to be elected. The multi-party coalition was of the opinion that this action was illegal after which they requested the special meeting for Monday.
Ndzwanana was earlier elected speaker of the council after the 69 votes of DA councilors were thrown out as spoiled ballots. These votes were all in favor of ActionSA’s Kholofelo Morodi, the multi-party coalition’s nominated candidate. However, the votes were marked with a number, instead of a cross, and were disqualified.
Meanwhile, a special council meeting has already been scheduled for today, with the aim of making a third attempt to appoint a new mayor for the city.
The city is still leaderless after Randall Williams resigned as mayor in February. His successor, Dr. Murunwa Makwarela, was dismissed as a board member soon after, as he was declared insolvent in 2016.
The multi-party coalition stands squarely behind Cilliers Brink as executive mayor of the City of Tshwane.
Makwarela defeated Brink, who had resigned as DA MP shortly before, as mayoral candidate in February after several members of the multi-party coalition did not vote for him.
