ANC’s Jongizizwe Dlabathi replaces DA councillor as Ekurhuleni council whip

ANC deputy regional chairperson Jongizizwe Dlabathi has been elected City of Ekurhuleni’s acting whip of council.

This follows the resignation of Democratic Alliance (DA) member Khetha Shandu.

Shandu tendered his resignation ahead of the metro’s council sitting on Thursday, paving the way for Dlabathi to be elected by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

The former chief whip was facing a motion of no confidence alongside fellow DA member and speaker Raymond Dhlamini.

DA ward councillor Pieter Henning also resigned this week, but will carry out his duties until 28 February.

‘Better leadership’

According to ActionSA, this showed that DA has failed to govern in the City.

“The resignation of Henning and Shandu further strengthens ActionSA’s belief that the DA-led coalition government has failed to address the decline in service delivery in Ekurhuleni.

“We, therefore, ask that Mayor Tania Campbell and her mayoral committee accept their failure and resign in favour of better leadership within that multi-party coalition,” ActionSA Gauteng chairperson Bongani Baloyi said.

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“ActionSA already left the coalition government in the City of Ekurhuleni in November last year, due to concerns about mayor Campbell and her executive’s inability to improve service delivery.

“At the time, ActionSA chose to be a constructive opposition within the council, maintaining pressure on the coalition government to prioritise service delivery and championing the issues of residents.

“For too long the residents of the City of Ekurhuleni have been let down by consecutive governments – including the current administration.”

Campbell was briefly ousted in a motion of no confidence last year, but was later re-elected following a political dispute between the ANC and EFF as they failed to clinch an agreement.

Interdict

Thursday’s council sitting got underway after the Johannesburg High Court this week ruled in favour of Dhlamini.

The speaker had filed an urgent application to prevent the sitting of the Ekurhuleni council, which the City manager, Imogen Mashazi, had called for 30 January.

The council sitting was adjourned on Monday after the court granted the interdict. The brief litigation was preceded by a chaotic council sitting a week ago.

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Dhlamini had, on 26 January, presided over a council sitting which had included an agenda item on his fitness to hold office.

But the proceedings were delayed due to Dhlamini’s alleged refusal to move the motions of no confidence up on the agenda, which also included items such as the Auditor-General’s report, among others.

The speaker instead tried to take a vote on an urgent motion to push up the adjustment budget up the agenda, much to the dismay of the EFF.

EFF councillors surrounded Dhlamini in an attempt to pressure him into tabling the two motions further stalling the council sitting, which was later adjourned.