Joburg Mayor to lay criminal charges against ANC and EFF councillors

Joburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse is laying criminal charges against several ANC and EFF councillors at the Hillbrow Police Station.

Joburg mayor joined by councillors

Phalatse is joined by multi-party coalition government councillors, who suffered physical injuries after Thursday’s fiasco at the council meeting.

The council sitting descended into chaos when councillors, mainly from the EFF and ANC, raised objections over the way the Section 79 committee chairpersons were elected.

Both parties wanted to elect the committee through a secret ballot, while most councillors voted to elect Section 79 committee chairpersons by a show of hand.

“Councillors mainly from the ANC and EFF refused to allow council business to commence. Yesterday’s sitting should have seen the election of Chairs as well as Chairpersons of Section 79 committees,” said Phalatse.

Chaos during council meeting

According to a member of the mayoral committee for economic development, Nkuli Mbundu, chaos broke out during the meeting after the ANC and EFF “discovered they lost and don’t have numbers even if they vote together”. 

The meeting was subsequently postponed to next week.

Most councillors voted to elect Section 79 committee chairpersons by a show of hands, instead of the secret ballot that the parties had called for, Mbundu said. 

These chairpersons hold the executive accountable through their oversight role. 

ALSO READ: Joburg council meeting postponed following disruptions by ANC, EFF

ANC CoJ ‘sickened’

In a statement by the ANC caucus in the City of Joburg, the party said it was “utterly sickened” after the secret ballot voting process was refused by the Speaker of Council. 

“This is going against the majority by attempting to impose voting by a show of hands, without substantial argument.”  

The party blasted the DA for their “tyranny elements” that “continue to undermine and bring mockery to the national struggle for liberation, democratic processes and seeks to deny the residents of Johannesburg service delivery and accountability”. 

The ANC CoJ caucus said they condemned the actions of the DA “with absolute contempt”, as well as “their erosion of capacity at the expense of the residents of Johannesburg.” 

Compiled by Narissa Subramoney.