ANC plan to unseat Trollip falls flat
Party backpedals on motion after failing to drum up opposition support
AFTER boasting for days that it would unseat Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Athol Trollip, the ANC backed out at the eleventh hour yesterday as it became apparent it would not have the support of other opposition parties. In a sharp about-turn, after days of behindthe-scenes meetings with the smaller parties – the AIC, PA and UF – in an effort to win their support, the ANC denied it had ever planned to pursue a no-confidence vote against Trollip.
This, despite saying publicly several times that it would.
ANC chief whip Litho Suka and regional spokesman Gift Ngqondi are also on record saying they would table the motion at yesterday’s meeting.
In the drama-filled council meeting, which saw the DA and ANC at each other’s throats about how to interpret the council rules, the ANC accused DA councillor Francois Greyling of being drunk.
They demanded that Greyling, who denies being under the influence of alcohol, undergo a breathalyser test.
Trollip said the council rules did not preclude an intoxicated councillor from entering the chamber. He said it was a frivolous matter. Speaker Jonathan Lawack urged the ANC to submit a formal complaint to his office.
Lawack said later he would investigate the complaint should it come to his office.
He said the code of conduct for public representatives only alluded to councillors who bring the council into disrepute.
The meeting was attended by a full house following last week’s collapsed sitting, when the DA, COPE and ACDP failed to reach a quorum without its coalition partner, the UDM.
This came after weeks of simmering tensions between deputy mayor Mongameli Bobani and Trollip over the hiring and firing of some metro managers.
Their disagreements were escalated to their national bosses, who held a meeting with them in Cape Town on Monday night.
Both UDM president Bantu Holomisa and DA leader Mmusi Maimane said the meeting was positive and the coalition was still intact.
They resolved their differences over city manager Johann Mettler’s appointment as well as the contract extension of acting corporate services head Vuyo Zitumane.
Holomisa said: “We agreed that the coalition must continue because these two items, which were the bone of contention, never threatened service delivery.” Maimane said: “The coalition is strong. There is no suggestion or hint that it is under threat – not from the extensive engagements I’ve had with the president of the UDM.
“We’ve agreed on a review of the delegations between the mayor and deputy mayor.”
Meanwhile, the ANC – which had said at a media conference on Thursday that it hoped to capitalise on the tensions between the DA and UDM – changed its tune, even denying meeting with other opposition parties.
At yesterday’s sitting, it only tried to raise a motion of exigency about the land invasion protest in Wells Estate.
ANC caucus leader Bicks Ndoni said: “There was no plan on our part to table a motion of no confidence.
“Whatever was said to the media is not the official position of the ANC.”
The Herald has a recording of last week’s media conference where Suka said they would pursue the no-confidence motion. Ndoni was present at the briefing.
But he insisted yesterday: “We would never want to table a motion of no confidence when we know we don’t have enough numbers.”
According to some of the smaller opposition parties, the ANC had been lobbying for their support to break up the coalition government.
PA councillor Marlon Daniels said: “We were called with other opposition parties outside the coalition and, among other issues, the vote of no confidence was discussed.
“There was no agreement on our side. We are not anyone’s baby brother.
“They cannot dictate to us what to do, we have our independence. That motion was never going to carry because they don’t have the numbers.”
The UF’s Mkhuseli Mtsila said he had also had a meeting with the ANC on Thursday.
“They called us because they thought now that Bobani had left the meeting the coalition would collapse,” Mtsila said.
“We agreed that we would support their motion if it was carried out, but we would never let them govern.
“The ANC failed the people of this metro for 22 years – the DA is doing the same.”
AIC councillor Tshonono Buyeye also confirmed that the ANC had approached his party for support.
“I don’t think it was an official thing, it was just a discussion we had after Bobani walked out on Thursday,” Buyeye said.
“The ANC felt there was an opportunity for them if the coalition collapsed.
“We did not reach an agreement with them because voting with them would mean we are saying they must be in government.”