The ordinary EMM council meeting held on Thursday, November 26, became out of the ordinary when Democratic Alliance (DA) elected councillors began a protest within council chambers and were escorted out by Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) officers.
The conflict, still stemming from the controversy surrounding the status of the city manager, Khaya Ngema’s, employment, started when DA-elected Councillor Tania Campbell entered an urgent motion into the agenda to be discussed by the council.
Speaker Patricia Kumalo refused to suspend council proceedings and said that the motion would be discussed with the other motions. Clr Campbell insisted that the meeting was illegal.
A spectator of the proceedings in the public gathering, later revealed as Paul Willemburg, a Member of the DA Provincial Legislature (MPL), was spotted taking photographs of the proceedings. The MPL was escorted out of the meeting by EMPD along with Ashor Sarupen MPL and Jordan Lotriet, a member of the DA.
“I have laid charges against Patricia Kumalo at the Germiston Police Station and will ensure that this fascist act does not become the norm,” Sarupen later said in a statement.
After the two MPLs had been removed from the chambers, chaos erupted in council. DA councillors displayed pre-printed posters with ‘#Hamba Khaya’, ‘Stop illegal meetings’ and ‘Misleading Mayor must go’ and threw their meeting agendas on the ground.
Council was adjourned for a short break but once it was reconvened DA councillors again began chanting “Point of order”. Speaker Kumalo called for EMPD officers to escort the DA councillors from the chambers saying, “we cannot allow 65 people to hold the majority to ransom”. Quorum was declared following the removal of the DA councillors and the meeting continued.
Clr Campbell stated in a press release: “The DA will continue to fight the illegal appointment of Ngema at every level.”
