Speaker of Joburg council Vasco da Gama after the vote for Joburg Mayor was postponed. Picture: Michel Bega
The spat between the ANC and the DA in Johannesburg continued on Thursday as the party in blue claims a motion of no confidence in speaker Vasco da Gama failed, while the new governing party in the metro believes it passed.
Just a day after the DA lost Johannesburg to the ANC through a mayoral vote, which saw Geoff Makhubo sporting the mayoral chain, the council voted on a motion of no confidence against the speaker.
According to a statement by the ANC, a total of 135 councillors voted in favour of the motion, while 99 DA councillors voted against it. The 30 EFF councillors abstained.
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“The rules are very clear and once the votes were cast, the acting speaker, councillor Christians, declared to council that the motion had passed. However, the DA did not want to accept the outcome,” ANC regional spokesperson Jolidee Matongo said in a statement.
“We are requesting the provincial government to intervene in this issue.
“The DA-led coalition’s continued sabotaging of the process is a clear indication that they are not democrats and do not care about the residents of Johannesburg.”
The DA, however, has a different version of events. It alleges the motion against Da Gama failed and accused the ANC and its voting partners of attempting to subvert the democratic outcome of the motion.
“On Thursday, 5 December 2019, South Africa witnessed first-hand the ANC’s flagrant disregard for democratic processes. Ironically, these were the very same processes and rules which had led to the election of their mayoral candidate the day before,” DA Johannesburg caucus leader Funzela Ngobeni said in a statement.
Ngobeni said the result of the mayoral election was difficult to stomach, but that the DA graciously conceded defeat and congratulated the ANC.
“We did this out of our respect for democracy and the Constitution.
“Yet, when the motion against speaker of council Da Gama failed, the ANC resorted to aggressive and violent attempts at refusing the speaker the opportunity to resume his role and denied the council the opportunity to continue with its business.
“It is disappointing that a day after the ANC was entrusted with the mayoral responsibility, it has already demonstrated its inability to adhere to council rules and established democratic processes.”
On Wednesday, Makhubo secured more than the 50% plus one majority needed to become the new mayor when 137 councillors cast their ballots in his favour
Ngobeni received 101 votes, while the EFF’s candidate, Musa Novela, received 30.
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