Joburg coalition push ahead with council vote after ANC and EFF chaos

Security measures have been put in place to ensure the chair of chairs vote takes place in the City of Johannesburg council on Tuesday, and if there are any disruptions, the coalition says it will go to court.

With 140 seats, following a power-sharing agreement with the Patriotic Alliance (PA), the coalition says it is quite comfortable and confident the vote will take place successfully.

In a media briefing chaired by DA leader John Steenhuisen on Monday, Joburg’s coalition, which consists of the DA, IFP, ActionSA, FF Plus, ACDP and COPE, the group condemned the actions of the ANC and EFF that left its members with multiple injuries during the chaotic council meeting on Thursday.

Steenhuisen accused the ANC and EFF of not accepting democratic processes and said committee rooms were the engines that kept municipalities running, adding that without them, services would not reach residents.

“The scenes we witnessed last week certainly have no place in any democratic chamber in South Africa. No freedom-loving democrat who believes in the rule of law and democratic processes, sworn in to serve, would conduct themselves in the manner we saw last week.

“When you have a descent into chaos you will compromise the ability of this council to start working hard and the longer the chaos is allowed to continue, the more damage to restore service delivery and get Joburg moving forward again,” he said.

ActionSA’s John Moodey said council speaker Vasco da Gama had put plans in motion, using every legal avenue to ensure Tuesday’s meeting continues uninterrupted and that chairpersons are elected.

“If it means we need to go to court then we shall definitely do so. There is precedent because political parties and individuals can be held liable for disrupting council processes and procedures.

“We’re determined that an election will take place tomorrow,” he said.

On Thursday, ANC and EFF councillors clashed with their colleagues from the DA in an attempt to stop the chair of chairs vote from taking place by a show of hands instead of a secret vote.

Fists and water bottles were thrown in the air with some councillors caught walking on desks.

COPE councillor Colleen Makhubele was nominated for the position of chair of chairs alongside the EFF’s Nonhlanhla Radebe.

The DA, along with its coalition partners, wanted to vote for Makhubele while the ANC and the minority bloc wanted to vote for Radebe.

On Friday, injured members of the coalition opened criminal cases against members of the ANC and EFF.

Makhubele, who joined Monday’s presser, said it was clear the ANC and EFF did not have the numbers and chose chaos instead.

She said last week’s actions constituted gender-based violence and there were female councillors who were injured during the chaos.

“Councillors are community leaders, they are elected and are not just ordinary individuals on the street and have to be exemplary in how they behave.

“Not getting your way in terms of getting a secret ballot does not give you the right to infringe on other people’s rights and harm women and elderly in council,” she said.

Confirming a power-sharing agreement with the multiparty coalition, PA councillor Ashley Sauls said the party would vote alongside the DA during the vote on Tuesday, adding that Da Gama did his best to control the chaotic meeting.

He condemned the violence.

FF Plus leader Pieter Groenewald called on ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene in the Joburg council and tell the caucus to accept the rule of democracy.