Tshwane still without a mayor after council meeting collapses
The DA-led multiparty coalition walked out mid-meeting over the speaker's refusal to remove two ActionSA councillors who had their memberships terminated by their party.
TSHWANE - The City of Tshwane is still without a mayor after a council meeting to elect a new one collapsed on Friday night.
The Democratic Alliance (DA)-led multiparty coalition walked out in the middle of the meeting over the speaker's refusal to remove two ActionSA councillors who had their memberships terminated by their party.
The councillors told Eyewitness News they received their termination letters after the council meeting started, arguing that they could participate in the vote.
They were expelled from ActionSA for allegedly voting with the African National Congress (ANC), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) coalition to install Congress of the People's (Cope) Murunwa Makwarela as mayor.
ALSO READ:
- ActionSA fires 2 councillors allegedly for voting with the ANC in Tshwane
- Tshwane ActionSA councillor says he was offered R1m to vote for Makwarela
Due to the departure of the members of the coalition, council could not form a quorum, meaning that speaker Mncedi Ndzwanana needed to adjourn the meeting to a later date.
DA caucus leader Cilliers Brink said that the coalition could not participate in what he called an illegal election.
“The law is clear, once the membership of a councillor of a political party is terminated, that person is no longer a councillor, but it’s clear that the ANC-EFF coalition depends for its victory... electing its puppet mayor, on the support of those two expelled ActionSA members.”
Cilliers Brink (DA), mayoral candidate for the DA-led coalition in Tshwane, explains why they walked out of todays meeting.
' EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) March 17, 2023
Brink says the speaker wanted the two expelled ActionSA councillors to vote without a legal opinion. TCG pic.twitter.com/kxGGe1Zrmx
Eugene Modise, ANC Tshwane Chairperson, says the DA coalition have been planning to collapse the meeting since the morning.
' EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) March 17, 2023
He says the two ActionSA councillors only received letters of termination after council had started so they had a right to vote today. TCG pic.twitter.com/B68Sr110SQ
