‘EFF still a baby,’ says Ekurhuleni speaker after council sitting collapses

The City of Ekurhuleni’s council meeting has been adjourned after the sitting descended into chaos on Thursday.

Two motions of no confidence against council speaker Raymond Dhlamini and whip Khetha Shandu, who are members of the Democratic Alliance (DA), were on the agenda for Thursday’s sitting.

Agenda

The council proceedings, which started at 10am, 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.

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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 Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

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

Watch the video below:

Following the adjournment, Dhlamini said he was not surprised by the EFF’s behaviour in council.

“It’s their nature that’s how they operate so sometimes you need to tolerate them and work with them. Remember the EFF, I think, got 10 or 11 years in government so they are still a baby [and] you need to nurture proper.

“I don’t have problem with them… they were expressing their feelings, but they should do that in a proper manner, which we will do that in terms of the rules of the House,” he told reporters.

READ MORE: DA’s stance on EFF will ‘hurt’ multi-party coalition in Ekurhuleni, says ActionSA

Dhlamini said that there had already been an amendment to the initial agenda of the day.

“A councillor can rise once and asked the agenda to be changed once,” he said.

“We can’t do things wrongly… we have to follow the proper processes accordingly. I’m just saying this that we need to tolerate each other and follow the processes then things will run smoothly.”

‘Not a career thing’

The Speaker disputed the suggestion that he was delaying his potential removal from office.

“We are politicians… this is not a career thing so you know that you can be voted out at any given time if they are not happy or satisfied with you. They can recall you at any given time and you have to accept that so I’m worried,” he continued.

Dhlamini further said the failure to pass the adjustment would not impact service delivery in Ekurhuleni.

“Everything has been happening. Waste is being collected accordingly. We are moving forward. The item of adjustment budget was supposed to come on the month of February, but we thought let’s bring it in January because it is in front of us so we are still in line with that.”

‘Tip of an iceberg’

Meanwhile, ANC deputy regional chairperson, Jongizizwe Dlabathi said the events that took place in council were “extremely disappointing”.

“It’s [just] a tip of an iceberg. It’s a confirmation of the type of speaker that we have. A speaker who really that does not comprehend the standing orders of council because [the rules] do permit a submission of an amendment into a motion. So it was factually incorrect for him to project an image that another motion was brought,” he said.

Dlabathi said minority parties in Ekurhuleni were of the view that Dhlamini and Shandu were “fit for purpose”.

“The collapse of today’s council is a confirmation of that. We believe that we must support any motion that seeks to remove them.”

Last year, Ekurhuleni mayor Tania Campbell was re-elected after Dlabathi failed to get enough numbers.

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