Early elections on the cards for Tshwane
EFF plots a walkout from council
An early election now looks imminent for the City of Tshwane as the three biggest parties in its council disagree on who would be the next mayor if Solly Msimanga is ousted on Thursday.
A vote of no confidence in Msimanga, scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, is likely to succeed as it enjoys the support of both the EFF and the ANC who collectively form a majority in council.
But Sowetan has learnt from highranking EFF leaders that the Red Berets plan to stage a walkout from the council meeting when the ANC puts up the name of its regional chairperson Kgosi Maepa as its mayoral candidate.
For any motion to pass in the council, it needs 50% plus one suppport of the councilors in attendance.
None of the parties has the majority in council. An EFF insider said the party will not support the ANC’s candidate and that, since the DA says it will not field anyone other than Msimanga, this would lead to the collapse of the council.
“We will not support the ANC and this will lead to the province taking over the metro, then we will have a snap election,” the EFF insider said.
Although the DA is fighting back, Msimanga seems to have accepted that he will be ousted, saying yesterday: “If the ANC and the EFF vote together, the motion will succeed”.
“Whatever happens on Thursday, history will judge us accordingly” .
Msimanga added that the DA would not be fielding another candidate. The DA
‘‘ Whatever happens on Thursday, history will judge us accordingly
would rather be in the opposition benches, he said.
EFF leader Julius Malema said Msimanga would be ousted for shielding white DA officials who did not have proper qualifications for positions they held in the metro but instead targeted black officials who have been accused of wrongdoing.
The fight between Msimanga and the EFF began when the mayor expressed intentions to suspend city manager Moeketsi Mosola over allegations of irregularly awarding a R12bn tender.
The EFF wants the city manager to be kept in his position, claiming he is a victim of a campaign by a DA “white caucus”.
Yesterday, Maepa said: “The ANC is not desperate for power, we are simply advancing community grievances levelled against a corrupt DA-led administration characterised by poor service delivery.”
Maepa said the ANC has decided to field him as a candidate for the mayoral position “should the need arise”.
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See pages 16 & 17