Political parties agree to oust Trollip in the Bay

Nelson Mandela Bay could have a new coalition government in place before the end of next week.

That is if all the opposition parties, together with current coalition partner Patriotic Alliance (PA), follow through with their decision taken on Thursday to oust Athol Trollip as mayor.

The opposition parties, with the PA, hold a combined 61-seat majority in the council of 120 seats.

The DA, COPE and ACDP together have 59 seats. The ANC has 50, the EFF six, the UDM two and the PA, AIC and United Front (UF) one each.

At a meeting at the Summerstrand Hotel in Port Elizabeth, leaders from the ANC, EFF, UDM, AIC, PA and UF took a decision to remove Trollip through a no-confidence motion.

The parties would then join forces to put a new coalition government together, they confirmed yesterday.

Among those at the meeting were Faith Muthambi of the ANC, EFF secretary-general Godrich Gardee, Zanoxolo Wayile of the UF, PA president Gayton McKenzie and AIC secretarygeneral, Mahlubi Jafta.

Jafta said the opposition councillors were in the process of gathering the signatures of 61 councillors to petition speaker Jonathan Lawack to convene a special council meeting by next Friday.

“This is not about the removal of Trollip. The whole administration needs to change. The DA administration needs to be removed,” Jafta said.

McKenzie, whose party is a member of the coalition with the DA, COPE and ACDP, said they could “no longer be blind” to the land evictions of black and coloured residents in the city.

The UDM’s Bay leader, former deputy mayor Mongameli Bobani, said the parties decided on Thursday to form a new coalition, adding that positions would be discussed at a later stage.

“Residents of the metro have suffered enough under Trollip.

“Unemployment in the city is high and we want people to get the services they need,” he said.

Trollip declined to comment, while DA Eastern Cape leader Nqaba Bhanga said: “They’ve done if before and they’re doing it again.

“We’ll face is as it comes; we’ve faced many votes of no confidence.

“What we’re doing right now is focusing on the work that we’re doing,” Bhanga said.