‘Do not vote with enemy’ to oust mayor

There is barely any doubt the future of Nelson Mandela Bay United Democratic Movement mayor Mongameli Bobani hangs in the balance, but his opponents’ marriage of convenience is crumbling.

The South African Communist Party (SACP), small but influential, is opposed to the ANC aligning with the Democratic Alliance (DA), a “class enemy”, against Bobani.

SACP district spokesperson Lazola Pukwana called the ANCDA co-operation a “fictitious marriage” and an “irresponsible and reckless” move by the ANC.

“We distance ourselves from the decision of the ANC task team to support the vote of no confidence initiated by the DA, and we call on our alliance partners to condemn the irresponsible plan.

“We view this as the biggest [act of] political suicide this task team has committed thus far. We call on all ANC councillors not to vote with the class enemy and to defy the unjust call of the task team.”

The party added that the motion of no confidence against Bobani, which was cancelled at the last minute yesterday, would not resolve the problems facing the Eastern Cape municipality.

The DA in the municipality said yesterday it would approach the courts to force the motion to be tabled, after it was cancelled, allegedly due to safety concerns.

Council speaker Buyelwa Mafaya cancelled the meeting, saying she had received intelligence regarding threats against councillors if the sitting went ahead.

On social media yesterday, Nelson Mandela University-based political analyst Ongama Mtimka said postponing the council meeting appeared to be the best course of action “given the tense political situation”.

“The threatening rhetoric and probability of violence were of concern, even if the postponement can be proven to be about self-preservation,” Mtimka said.

Bobani became mayor in August last year at the behest of the black caucus, comprising the ANC, Patriotic Alliance (PA), the African Independent Congress (AIC) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

It was at that meeting that the current governing minority coalition ousted DA mayor Athol Trollip.

The DA caucus has the majority in council with 57 seats but the power lies with the coalition.

Bobani fell out of favour with the black caucus after he allegedly unilaterally fired a number of metro executives.

But the EFF, which initially supported removing Bobani, has backtracked.

As it stands now, the DA supported by the ANC, PA and AIC still intend to remove Bobani.