ActionSA guns for Tshwane Speaker’s removal
Residents of Pretoria cannot be blamed if they are confused about what happened at the recent chaotic council meeting on July 25. Even the roleplayers are confused. The ANC said they did withdraw the motion but the Office of the Speaker said as this was not done timeously, the motion is still on the agenda
The chaotic Tshwane council meeting on Thursday 25 once again showed the incompetence of the Speaker. If any motion of no confidence is to be lodged, it should not be against Mayor Cilliers Brink but against Mncedi Nzawanana himself.
This statement was made by Michael Beaumont, national chairman of ActionSA.
Beaumont said the party is looking forward to their court application on September 2 in the Gauteng High Court to declare unlawful a Tshwane council rule that allows the Speaker to unilaterally throw out motion of no confidence petitions against himself.
The party filed court papers last year to allow a motion of no confidence to take place against Speaker Mncedi Nzwanana after he dismissed two previously.
“Our approach to the courts is premised on the reality that the multi-party coalition in Tshwane will not achieve stability with an ANC/EFF-sponsored Speaker at the helm to facilitate their unlawful power grabs. We have a Trojan Horse in him as Speaker of the council. The way he handled the meeting showed he is not fit to hold the position,” said Beaumont.
He confirmed that ActionSA is actively working to remove the Speaker.
“What he permitted to happen during the July 25 meeting, is a perversion of all democratic principles,” said Beaumont.
“I do not exclude another motion of no confidence by our party in the Speaker to remove him. We will consider all avenues.”
Beaumont referred to the council meeting where the ANC proposed to lodge a motion of no confidence in mayor Brink.
This agenda item was not debated at the meeting as the council erupted in chaos before they came to the point on the agenda.
During this interlude, the mayor was approached in an intimidating manner by opposition councillors. Mud-slinging took place between opposing councillors and the Speaker could not control the chamber to stick to the agenda points and had to adjourn the meeting.
The ANC however insisted after the meeting the motion of no confidence had been withdrawn.
Vanessa da Sousa, spokesperson for the Speaker’s office, said the ANC motion has not been withdrawn.
“It is on the council agenda for the next meeting and should the ANC wish to withdraw it, it must be done so in council. That is the only way. So the motion still stands,” she said.
Da Sousa pointed out the agenda point was already loaded on the agenda before 16:00 the day before the council meeting as per protocol.
“The Office of the Speaker received the withdrawal of the motion e-mail from the ANC on the day of the meeting at about 09:46 when the motion had already been part of the agenda.
Therefore, the motion had to be withdrawn formally in council by councillor Boshielo when the Speaker put the agenda item for consideration. We never got to the item on the agenda. Therefore the motion is not considered withdrawn,” said Da Sousa.
This is however not the understanding of the ANC regional secretary, George Matjila, who told Rekord they consider the motion withdrawn.
He said they resolved to withdraw the motion before the meeting as not all the details such as statistics and figures needed to motivate the motion, were as yet available to them.
According to Matjila, it was also on the advice of the ANC provincial council that they called for the withdrawal.
“Our understanding is that we asked for it to be withdrawn two hours before the meeting. We consider it to be withdrawn,” said Matjila. “But still, the screws need to be tightened around Brink,” he added.
There will be a virtual meeting of the council on July 31. Da Sousa said it is to consider the approval of the water and sanitation turnaround plan and strategy.
Provision has been made on the agenda for proposals allowed by the speaker such as withdrawing the motion of no confidence.
The chaos surrounding the tabling or not of the motion of no confidence has led to DA MMC of Finance, Jacqui Uys, confirming that she tried to point out the procedural breaks with protocol to the Speaker but was ignored during the meeting.
She said there was merit in the comments allegedly made by the mayor of a possible maladministration of a future ANC management of Tshwane.
“As in the past, the ANC wants to make the council uncontrollable and make life so difficult for the mayor that he will resign. I have news for them. Cilliers Brink is not going anywhere,” said Uys.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has already received the application from the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) in which the party objects to comments raised by EFF council member Obekeng Ramabodu during the meeting.
“The complaint must be assessed and we must determine if we have all the necessary information,” said Zamatungwa Mbeki, spokesperson for the SAHRC.
In their complaint, the FF Plus said they condemn with contempt the racist statements made by Ramabodu during the council meeting.
Ramabodu said, among other things, that he wants to “assault a Boer” because he is “out for Afrikaner blood”.
The MMC for Safety and Security and FF Plus councillor, Grandi Theunissen, said: “Ramabodu’s conduct shows hatred based on race and ethnicity, and he should bear the consequences of his unacceptable outburst.”
The DA has also lodged a complaint with the Commission against the EFF.
The EFF countered the FF Plus complaint with one of their own.
Godwin Ratikwana, EFF chief whip, said the EFF caucus has taken decisive action against councillor Mark Surgeon of the FF Plus by reporting him to the SAHRC and laying a case of intimidation for his racist acts.
“The hostile behaviour exhibited by the Surgeon during the meeting is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of racism and intimidation perpetuated by certain individuals and groups within the council.
“EFF Tshwane party leader, Obakeng Ramabodu, faced direct threats from a group of white reactionaries during the meeting who expressed their intent to beat him,” said Ratikwana.
Surgeon said he was not aware of this complaint against him but that at the time he reacted to the Speaker not honouring several calls for a point of order from his party leader in the council, Grandi Theunissen.
“Theunissen was faced with several slanderous comments from EFF members which I felt needed to be countered,” he said.
Zamatungwa Mbeki, spokesperson for the SAHRC, said that no complaint has as yet been received by the Commission against Surgeon.
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