Reprieve for Sihlahla as council meeting fails to quorate
A Buffalo City Metro special council meeting scheduled to discuss the mooted suspension of city manager Andile Sihlahla collapsed as there was no quorum on Wednesday.
The virtual meeting was meant to consider suspending Sihlahla over consistently poor audit outcomes and a damning municipal public accounts committee report on his administration.
He had been given until Tuesday to motivate why he should not be suspended.
But the meeting collapsed after 23 DA councillors registered their dissent and asked to be excused from the meeting, saying they had not been provided with any documents for the meeting and could therefore not plan accordingly.
A number of ANC councillors also failed to join proceedings.
Sihlahla’s pending suspension was meant to be discussed in his absence as he is in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19 on Monday.
Acting city manager Luyanda Mbula chaired the meeting as council speaker Alfred Mtsi was unavailable. Mbula said he had been hospitalised after falling ill on Sunday.
As Mbula was conducting a roll call to ascertain who was present in the meeting, DA councillor Anathi Majeke announced the party would not be part of the proceedings.
“This is because we did not receive any documents to assist us in caucusing and preparing for such a sitting.
“We would like to register our dissent as the failure to provide us with such documentation will render us unable to continue in this meeting,” Majeke told council.
DA councillor Vaughan Holmes later told the Dispatch that the party’s refusal to participate in the meeting was a “protest”.
“This thing of us not getting reports prior to council meetings has been happening for some time. People now meet virtually. If we are not given reports and are told we will get them on the day of the council meeting, how do they expect us to caucus and apply our minds?”
After it was established that the meeting did not quorate, council chief whip Mawethu Marata recommended that the meeting be postponed for two weeks to allow Sihlahla and Mtsi to recover.
The meeting was postponed to July 28.
The Daily Dispatch has previously reported that the ANC caucus was divided, with some wanting Sihlahla suspended while others, including mayor Xola Pakati, are believed to be against his suspension.
We would like to register our dissent as the failure to provide us with such documentation will render us unable to continue in this meeting