Tshwane council to hear urgent motion of no confidence in Mokgalapa

The City of Tshwane will be holding a special council meeting on Thursday to consider the ANC’s urgent motion of no confidence against mayor Stevens Mokgalapa.

News24 can reveal a special council sitting has been confirmed by Tshwane speaker Katlego Mathebe, where the main item on the agenda is the vote of no confidence against the DA mayor.

This after the ANC reclaimed the Johannesburg metro from the DA after its candidate, Geoff Makhubo, received 137 votes to become the new mayor of the economic hub on Wednesday afternoon.

The Johannesburg mayoral position became vacant after Herman Mashaba resigned in October.

Last week, during the final Tshwane council meeting of the year, the ANC and EFF both brought motions of no confidence against Mokgalapa.

The meeting, which ran late into the evening, eventually collapsed when the EFF and ANC caucus staged a walk-out after Mathebe disallowed the EFF’s motion on a technicality.

Mathebe had said its motion against Mokgalapa was not based on fact, but opinion.

Quoting the rules, she said the EFF’s reasons advanced “arguments, expressed opinions, or contains incessant factual, incriminating, disparaging or improper suggestions”.

The EFF’s motion related to service delivery issues, including the water crisis in parts of Tshwane.

The ANC, who also submitted its own motion against Mokgalapa, did not stick around long enough to hear whether its motion would be allowed.

Both parties accused Mathebe of only wanting to protect her party – the DA – and her job.

The walkout collapsed the council, and following a count, it was found there was no quorum and the sitting was postponed to 2020.

Earlier during the meeting, the ANC and EFF sent lawyers’ letters to Mathebe imploring her to allow the parties’ respective motions of no confidence or face legal action.

The ANC’s lawyer’s letter, seen by News24, stated its motion satisfied all rules and orders of the council, and should be presented for a vote.

The party added if the motion was disallowed it would approach the high court for an interdict against the speaker.

“We therefore write to demand that when the motion arrives, the speaker should table it for consideration by the council or we will have no choice but to approach the court on an urgent basis and will request the court to order the speaker to pay personal costs,” the letter read.

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