Factions derail BCM meeting again

ANC factional politics were exposed on Wednesday when a reconvened Buffalo City Metro council meeting collapsed for the third time as a quorum could not be reached.

Supporters of the mayor and incumbent regional chair, Xola Pakati, did not hold back on threats aimed at suspended ANC regional secretary Pumlani Mkolo and his supporters on Wednesday when council speaker Alfred Mtsi adjourned the meeting twice.

Mkolo and Pakati are competing for the position of chair of the ANC’s Dr WB Rubusana region in BCM.

The Daily Dispatch understands that some of Mkolo’s supporters did not attend Wednesday’s meeting as they did not want to be part of approving a R3.4m sports sponsorship recommended to fund former ANC youth league leader Ayanda Matiti’s company Xaba for a boxing event.

The money was to be for the fifth annual tournament celebrating Madiba as a boxer, held over the weekend.

Some of the noticeable absentees included deputy mayor Zoliswa Matana, councillors Sindiswa Gomba and Luleka Simon-Ndzele.

Last week the council meeting collapsed twice – first when opposition parties left the meeting on Wednesday, and again on Thursday when a number of ANC councillors also did not attend the reconvened meeting.

“We are ready for the conference. When is the conference?” chanted Pakati’s supporters during the adjournment.

“We are not scared of you, we are ready now,” said councillor Vuyolwethu Gqodi.

“Xola will lead us, the conference is coming. In ward 49 they want Xola as chairman,” said mayoral committee member Amanda Mnyute.

Opposition parties did not come back to the meeting after Mtsi adjourned it for an hour.

Before the meeting closed there were only 48 councillors and 51 councillors are needed to make a quorum.

Mtsi blamed the DA for the third collapse of the meeting.

He said: “I have observed with dismay the manner in which this council has conducted its business in the last few meetings. I am now able to say that it has been nothing but a [DA] political agenda to bring this council to its knees.

“When council is expected to play its oversight role and scrutinise reports to ensure that the governance of the municipality runs smoothly, we are once again faced with no other option but to adjourn this meeting for the third time.”

He said the agenda contained many important items, including compliance matters as well as service delivery related issues.

DA caucus leader Terence Fritz said: “We asked Mtsi to move that item [sponsorship] to be the last item so that other items can be dealt with and he refused. They [ANC] still want to continue even though the tournament has taken place.

“If we had stayed in the meeting we would have made a quorum and they would have outvoted us.”

We asked Mtsi to move the vote on boxing grant to be last on the agenda and he refused