DA’s Joburg council no-show: A betrayal of voter trust

The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) stunt of avoiding the Joburg council meeting on Monday was uncalled for and disrespectful to the people who voted for the party to represent them in the council.

Considering that the DA have been the frontrunners to oust the current government in the city, their stayaway shows that the only thing it cares about is to be in power, not to advocate for those who sent it to the council.

On Monday, the DA was a no-show at an extraordinary council sitting to elect a speaker. This resulted in African Independent Congress councillor Margaret Arnolds being elected unopposed as speaker.

In a letter to ANC chief whip Sithembiso Zungu, the party said: “Please note that we, the DA caucus, are unable to attend the meeting today due to the short notice period and prior commitments that our councillors cannot cancel at this late stage.”

The real question is: what is so important that for DA councillors it was more important than going to the council and representing their voters?

ALSO READ: Change is needed at local government level, let’s rev up for change in Joburg

Their failure to come to the council meeting showed lack of commitment to the residents of Johannesburg.

DA Joburg caucus leader Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku’s excuse that the party’s councillors were boycotting the sitting as it was a waste of money holds no water.

The DA could have been in council to advance its reasons for why it did not want Arnolds, or any of the opposition parties candidates, to be elected to such a high-profile position.

Its argument might be that it didn’t have the numbers to ensure its candidate would get the position. But this does not mean that it should stay away from council.

These are tendencies that should be condemned. Councillors should always be in council to fight for those they represent.

ALSO READ: City of Joburg gets new speaker as DA boycotts ‘R600k’ council meeting

This kind of action does not help them because why would the electorate want to vote for a party that shies away from representing them when it is important?

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is also one of those parties that stages stayaways or walkouts when things do not go its way.

The biggest concern is that it misses out on contractive debates and staying away or walking away doesn’t mean that council or parliamentary proceedings do not continue.

For Kayser-Echeozonjoku to say: “Our position remains clear. The Joburg council must be dissolved. We will not give legitimacy to the doomsday coalition while they are being frivolous with taxpayers’ money.”

It appears as if it is saying because it does not have the numbers, advancing its concerns will not bear any fruit, or putting its candidate up will just be a box-ticking exercise, so why bother attending the session?

ALSO READ: Some names in the hat for Joburg speaker

Dissolving the council does not guarantee the DA, the ANC, the EFF or any other party in the council that the electorate will vote to give it the outright majority.

The DA would still need a two-thirds majority to dissolve the council, meaning it would need councillors to rebel against their own parties like the ANC and EFF. This is unlikely to happen.

Regarding the ANC, it is not likely to agree to dissolve the council or turn against its own party, considering that the party has been losing votes in the municipality.

The EFF is also unlikely to agree to dissolving council as the DA has declared it to be public enemy number one ahead of next year’s elections.

The minority parties would not agree either as they already have power in the speaker, mayor and some of the MMC positions. They would rather hold on to what they already have.