Council disgrace
While supporters
chant in the
background, IFP
Councillor John
Harvey remonstrates
with ANC Councillor
Zakhele Mnqayi, who
has approached
Nadeco Councillor BD
Gumede’s seat
Dave
Savides
CITY infighting
reached a new low on
Tuesday when unruly
councillors caused
the Exco meeting to
be abandoned.
In one of the worst
displays of
behaviour ever
witnessed in the
council chambers,
ANC members -
including vociferous
non-Exco councillors
- vented their
frustration with
singing, catcalls
and whistles,
rendering the
meeting
ungovernable.
Matters were going
well until the final
item, when for the
first time, an item
was taken to the
vote.
This saw Nadeco
Councillor BD Gumede,
who was gifted an
Exco seat by the ANC
after the general
election, vote with
the IFP/DA alliance,
deeming him a
‘traitor’ in the
eyes of the ANC.
Their anger boiled
over and in an
apparently
orchestrated move,
they lined up behind
Gumede’s seat and
began chanting and
taunting.
Appeals from the
chair by Mayor Denny
Moffatt fell on deaf
ears despite threats
to call in security.
Tempers flared and
at times physical
fighting seemed
imminent as
councillors
confronted each
other.
The bedlam continued
for over 30 minutes
and Moffatt then
declared a ‘comfort
break’ after which
he announced that
the Exco meeting
would continue
without the public,
press and non-Exco
members present.
This was reportedly
ignored and the
meeting was closed
amid the presence of
security.
Paying the price
There appears no
easy answer to the
Exco situation,
which has
demoralised
municipal staff and
angered the general
public who expect a
measure of decorum
from those they
elected to office.
The ANC is paying a
high price for the
failed coalition and
its decision to give
Nadeco one of its
five Exco seats.
And there seems no
way they can get it
back under the
current system.
‘The only way to get
rid of an Exco
councillor is to put
a motion for his
removal before
council, where it
will go to the
vote,’ said City
CEO, Dr Tonie
Heyneke.
‘Legal opinion was
obtained at the time
when the ANC
nominated Nadeco
member Gumede to an
Exco seat.
‘We were told that
it was both
admissible and
desirable to include
other parties as
this spreads the
democratic share of
proportionality.
‘The matter could be
taken to court to
test whether the
Exco status is truly
representative of
the election
outcome.’
