UDM threatens to pull out of coalition
The United Democratic Movement will pull out of the Nelson Mandela Bay coalition if former deputy mayor Mongameli Bobani is not reinstated. /
The United Democratic Movement (UDM) will pull out of the Nelson Mandela Bay coalition if former deputy mayor Mongameli Bobani is not reinstated in his position by Monday, the party has indicated.
UDM leader Bantu Holomisa gave notice of this to the party leaders of the DA-led coalition: the Freedom Front Plus, the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), the Patriotic Alliance and the Congress of the People (COPE).
In a strongly worded e-mail, Holomisa informed them of the UDM’s intention to withdraw, following Bobani’s removal in a no-confidence vote on Thursday.
Without the UDM’s two seats, the governing coalition will probably crumble as it does not have a majority in the metro. To govern the metro, a party needs a majority of 61 seats. The DA has 57 seats, its allies — the ACDP, the Patriotic Alliance and COPE — have one each. The ANC has 50 seats, while the African Independent Congress (AIC) and the United Front of the Eastern Cape (UFEC) have one each. The EFF, which is not in the opposition coalition, has six seats. If the UDM pulls out of the coalition, the DA will have to court the EFF or smaller parties to retain its majority.
Holomisa said the UDM’s national executive committee had “expressed its intense dislike of the DA’s style and manner of operation, which undermine the coalition and the decisions we had taken, at the highest level, to resolve the situation concerning councillors [Athol] Trollip and Bobani”.
He accused the DA of double standards, being hypocritical and operating like a “big brother” in the coalition.
The Nelson Mandela Bay coalition administration has been taking strain over the past few months, with tension between Bobani and DA mayor Trollip prompting the coalition parties’ task team to investigate allegations and counterallegations by the two.
Trollip axed Bobani as the member of the mayoral council for public health in May.
When the coalition partners met on Tuesday, they asked to be given a report compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers that is said to have implicated Bobani in wrongdoing.
“The PricewaterhouseCoopers report was only delivered yesterday, the 23rd of August, and we are still yet to see a line that implicates Bobani on corruption,” Holomisa wrote.
The motion of no confidence in Bobani was tabled by the Patriotic Alliance and seconded by the DA. It was passed with 60 votes from the 119 councillors in attendance.
Bobani claimed on Thursday that he was still deputy mayor as the motion did not get 61 votes, which would be 50% plus one of the total number of the 120 seats in council.
Trollip said it was only on budget votes that 61 votes were needed. In all other cases, a simple majority of the councillors present was needed for a motion to pass.