Bid to topple DA in Tshwane ends in chaos
The DA lives to fight another day in Tshwane after the EFF and ANC walked out of a council meeting they petitioned in a bid to topple the DA-led local government.
The meeting was due to discuss motions of no confidence in the political leadership of the council, including speaker Katlego Mathebe and mayor Stevens Makgalapa.
The walkout came after a standoff lasting nearly six hours between Mathebe and the two political parties.
The ANC and EFF constitute a majority in the council. Their partnership could have toppled the DA had the vote taken place.
The meeting descended into chaos earlier in the day after Mathebe threatened to call in security personnel.
The ANC and EFF retorted: “Bring them, they must come!”
Gauteng co-operative governance and traditional affairs MEC Lebogang Maile previously issued a warning to Mathebe to run a smooth council meeting or be forced out.
The DA on Monday shot down Maile’s plan to place the Tshwane metro under administration.
Last month Maile said the city was broke, among other reasons.
The party’s Gauteng leader, John Moodey, said the city was a long way from undergoing such a drastic measure and could not be placed under administration based on the whim of an MEC.
Procedures needed to be followed, such as identifying where the problems were and offering help, and only if those failed could placing a city under administration be considered, Moodey said.
Finance political head Mare-Lize Fourie said Maile’s reasons for wanting to place the city under administration were flawed and would not stand in a court of law.