ActionSA and the ANC in Ekurhuleni are yet to lead the charge of removing the city’s mayor, Sivuyile Ngodwana, and the speaker, Nthabiseng Tshivhenga, at Thursday’s council sitting.
ActionSA’s caucus leader Siyanda Makhubo told The Star on Monday that he was happy that the ANC withdrew their revised motion, saying that they also expected the DA to follow suit in an effort to fast-track the possible removal of both the mayor and the speaker.
“ActionSA will be supporting the motion against EFF speaker councillor Tshivhenga, who has allowed her EFF caucus to collapse council on four separate occasions, acted in a completely partisan matter and has taken illegal decisions on numerous occasions.
“ActionSA insists that the city’s finances need to be stabilised, the institutional review rapidly implemented, and quality services delivered to our residents as soon as possible. This cannot take place until both the EFF’s puppet mayor Ngodwana and their delinquent speaker are removed from their positions.
“The EFF in government have been a disaster class in public administration and their inability to separate party and state represents a very real threat to democratic norms and principles which govern our local municipalities.
“ActionSA looks forward to political change that will begin fixing the mess the ANC/EFF coalition created in Ekurhuleni,” Makhubo added.
An insider in the ANC Ekurhuleni region said the organisation would support the motion as they felt that the speaker had failed on several occasion to show that she was consistent when running the council business.
The insider accused the speaker of also failing to conduct proper scrutiny on items brought forth by the executive.
“Reports from the executive are always submitted late and riddled with mistakes. This is in contravention of rule 102(1)(c) and rule 134, 135, and 136 of the council standing orders. This resulted in numerous reports being withdrawn, as the content was often incomplete and not in compliance with legislation and had not undergone proper oversight and scrutiny from the executive before tabling,” he added.
Last month, the ANC Youth League called on the party’s caucus in Ekurhuleni to support the no-confidence vote against Ngodwana, saying service delivery had severely deteriorated under his leadership.
Youth League spokesperson Simphiwe Patsoe expressed their dissatisfaction with the ANC’s coalition with the EFF.
“We are stagnant on our position that the ANC must move away from this coalition with the EFF because it is not benefiting our communities.”
Thursday’s motion of no confidence against the speaker was tabled by the DA’s chairperson, Raymond Dhlamini, who said the speaker had failed utterly in her duties.
“The violence that erupted in the City of Ekurhuleni council sitting on 29 February 2024 under councillor Nthabiseng’s watch reveals exactly what their priorities are. The EFF chooses thuggery and violence over democracy and residents’ needs – she must do the honourable thing and resign.
“Once again, the EFF speaker sat idle while violence erupted in the council chambers. She allowed EFF councillors to beat their colleagues and destroy council property. The once august house has turned into a circus of vulgarity where fists and foul language have become the norm.
“This is not the first council meeting where violence has erupted. In November last year, EFF councillors stormed the DA benches physically assaulting DA councillors. Once again, the speaker, who is responsible for maintaining order in the house, watched on,” Dhlamini said.
He said the speaker was deliberately putting her political party ahead of not only the safety of councillors, but also residents across the city.
Attempts to get hold of both the speaker and finance MMC Nkululeko Dunga were unsuccessful at the time of publication.
The Star
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