Tshwane Metro Council still hamstrung

Sabotage and political points-scoring saw the first meeting of the Tshwane Metro Council in 2018 collapse yesterday, according to the Tshwane mayor.

The ANC caucus walked out of the meeting and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), which has a track record of staying away from council meetings in the past, was a no-show again yesterday.

After the ANC walkout, the meeting was adjourned.

The two parties did the same at the last council meeting of 2017.

Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga said it demonstrated these parties were not interested in the people of Tshwane.

“The ANC [has] again displayed flagrant disregard for their constitutional mandate to serve in the interests of the people of Tshwane by staging yet another walkout in today’s continuation council meeting, resulting in its premature adjournment.

“As unsurprising as it is, it is still disappointing that public representatives elected to serve the people of Tshwane, which includes participating in council, elected to shaft that mandate in a failed attempt to score cheap political points,” he said.

ANC caucus leader Mapiti Matsena said the caucus did not walk out, it only refused to assist the DA-led government as some of the reports to be tabled were “going to cause problems”.

The ANC also said the meeting was inquorate and therefore could not continue.

In response, Msimanga said: “This is disingenuous and a deliberate distortion of the truth to mislead the public.”

The mayor said the meeting was quorate until the ANC decided to abdicate their responsibility, later claiming the DA-led administration shut down meaningful debate.

The reasons the EFF was not present were not clear.

“It will be for the EFF to explain to its constituents in Tshwane, as well as the residents as a whole, as to why they have chosen to put power back in the hands of the ANC,” said Msimanga.

In his closing remarks to council, the mayor addressed the leader of the opposition and ANC chief whip, raising the party’s persistent disruption of council meetings.

Matsena denied the ANC only abandoned council meetings when the EFF did not show up. “We are not reacting to what the EFF does.

“Our people who voted for us are happy and our councillors are working around the clock in making sure services are delivered,” Matsena said.

The ANC and EFF also either did not attend or walked out during the DA’s bid to get council approval for the sale of the mayoral mansion.

They did the same when the DA-led administration was trying to get approval for the revised expanded public works programme (EPWP) recruitment framework policy.

However, in the end, that strategy failed.

To date, 3 232 EPWP beneficiaries have been selected in a public draw to join the Gata Le Nna programme from the beginning of this month.

– virginiak@citizen.co.za

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