ETHEKWINI Council speaker, William Mapena’s autocratic rejection of debate on the Rules of Order Amendment bylaw at a recent meeting of council has been condemned by the opposition DA councillors.
According to Councillor Nicole Graham, DA deputy leader in eThekwini Council, the item was brought back to December’s council meeting held last week after it was deferred from November’s meeting when objections were raised to the legality of the proposed amendment which sought to effectively ban the public and media from meetings where items deemed to be of a sensitive nature were to be discussed.
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“The final bylaw had only been laid on the table on the day of the meeting and this violated the requirement for ‘reasonable notice’ in terms of the Constitution. The Speaker claimed that the item had already been discussed in a previous meeting, and would not let me speak to it. The current Rules of Order By-law does not allow the Speaker to unilaterally disallow debate on an item before the Council. I pointed out that the previous debate was around the bylaw being tabled, and not about the substance of the bylaw,” said Graham.
She said the DA believed the proposed amendment by-law posed a threat to the democratic functioning of the Council, as it allowed for arbitrary and autocratic decision making by the Speaker and committee chairs; gagged councillors and the media, and would derail the functioning of the Council.
“The ANC’s undemocratic behaviour is a sign of things to come. This Council is increasingly disorderly and undemocratic. The DA will not back down in opposing the disgraceful amendment by-law,” she said.
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