EFF and ANC withdraw their candidates from Joburg council meeting

Tuesday’s Joburg council sitting led to the EFF and ANC withdrawing their candidates for the election of the council chair of chairs and committee chairs.

Voting by a show of hands only commenced after 6pm after a day of delays, interruptions and point of orders.

Members of the ANC and EFF clung stubbornly to their demands for the elections to take place via a secret ballot.

But house speaker Vasco Da Gama stuck to his decision that the elections take place via a show of hands.

COPE’s Collen Makhubele was voted in as chair of chairs.

ANC caucus demands bottled water at their seats

The proceedings kicked off at 10am, but chaos and disruption ensued when members of the ANC caucus kept insisting that they be given water at their desks.

Da Gama explained that a water canister had been placed outside because council members used their bottles to hurt people during the last meeting when chaos erupted.

One of the ANC councillors who addressed the house said fetching water from outside was time-consuming and would delay service delivery.

“When we go outside and we drink water, we will be delaying the service delivery that is due to our people of Joburg.”

The party then asked for a 30-minute adjournment.

But when the sitting reconvened, the EFF asked for a further 30 minutes. Da Gama asked that all parties use the 30 minutes to caucus to save time.

But that request proved to have fallen on deaf ears, once the sitting reconvened the AIC asked for a further 30-minute break to convene. This was granted and shortly after continuing, voting was delayed again, but this time for lunch.

After lunch, the DA asked for a 30-minute caucus break which was also granted.

By the time the meeting reconvened, the argument for secret ballots persisted.

Some ANC council members staged a demonstration and entered the meeting with their hands bound in chains.

Several objections later, the ANC and EFF withdrew their candidates and left the council meeting, citing rule 83.

The sitting continues.

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