Game-changing moves in politics
SPARKS flew at yesterday’s council meeting when five DA senior members announced their resignations, citing racism in the party among other things.
In what was mayor Patricia de Lille’s last council meeting as the city’s first citizen, her colleagues DA chief whip Shaun August and mayco member for Area South Siyabulela Mamkeli, Mayco Member for Area North Suzette Little, councillor Greg Bernado, and councillor Thulani van der Stemela announced they could no longer be associated with the party that did not serve the interests of the country’s majority.
This was as De Lille used her speech to highlight her success in the City as the mayor and also hit back at her critics who she said were hell-bent in smearing her name. The DA responded, saying that they were concerned about the comments made by the five and denied that racism existed in the party.
This story, leading today’s edition wraps an eventful news week, which also saw newly appointed Finance Minister Tito Mboweni tabling his much-anticipated Medium Term Budget Policy Statement in Parliament on Wednesday.
We also report that some of the families of PAC martyrs Ggibile Nicholas Hans and Jonas Mzondi Jabavu will finally find closure as the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Michael Masutha will preside over the official handover ceremony of the exhumed human remains of Hans and Jabavu in Paarl. They were hanged at the Pretoria Central Prison gallows for incidents that took place during the period of intense political turmoil between 1963 and 1967.
Sports fans can brace for a mouth-watering weekend, with the Currie Cup Final between Western Province and the Sharks. This as Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs will battle for the bragging rights when they clash at Soccer City stadium tomorrow.