ActionSA hails decision to revive no confidence motion against Ekurhuleni mayor

Action SA in the City of Ekurhuleni has welcomed a decision by the Speaker of Council Nthabiseng Tshivenga to hold another council meeting to debate the motion of no confidence against the mayor Sivuyile Ngodwana.

Motion to be tabled again

ActionSA caucus leader Siyanda Makhubo said councillors had been informed that an extraordinary council meeting would be held on 12 March to debate the motion.

Makhubo said the Speaker was compelled to hold the meeting after more than 100 members of council petitioned her to do so.

“This comes after 193 out of 224 councilor’s signed a petition for council to be reconvened today 7 March, however, the EFF Speaker of Council, Cllr Nthabiseng Tshivhenga, has decided to unilaterally call for council to sit rather on Tuesday, 12 March,” he said.

Makhubo said Action SA and other parties had lost faith in Tshivenga’s ability to be impartial in council after the violence that erupted in council last week.

“It is clear the Speaker cannot be trusted to chair another council meeting in which her fighters will simply collapse the meeting once again. Cllr Tshivhenga has from the very beginning of her tenure, been unable to separate herself from her political party, the EFF, and chair council in an unbiased manner,” he said.

Makhubo said Action SA would be keeping a close eye on the Speaker as the motion of no confidence is introduced in council once again next week.

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“The EFF in government has been a disaster class in public administration, and their inability to separate party and state represents a very real threat to democratic norms and principles that govern our local municipalities. ActionSA looks forward to political change that will begin fixing the mess the unholy matrimony that this coalition has created in Ekurhuleni,” he said.

Municipality finances in a mess

Meanwhile, National Treasury and the Gauteng government have both expressed concern at the financial standing of Ekurhuleni as a municipality. There were claims of hidden financial reports and allegations of service providers not being paid.

“Added to this, the much-anticipated Auditor General’s report of the City’s finances have still not been tabled, violating the Municipal Finance Management Act deadline of January 31st, which puts the city closer to being placed on junk status by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange,” Makhubo said.

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The ANC in the City of Ekurhuleni was expected to vote with Action SA and other opposition party to oust the mayor. It has become clear over the last few months that the ANC in the region was not pleased by the coalition arrangement including the idea of a proxy mayor.