Johnathan Paoli
Chairs, water bottles, papers and insults were thrown around as EFF members protested against further consideration of the motion of no confidence in Ekurhuleni Mayor, Sivuyile Ngodwana following an application from ActionSA’s on Thursday at a council meeting.
Tempers flared when Council Speaker Nthabiseng Tshivhenga recognised an ANC councilor to take the podium instead of one from the EFF, during a council meeting.
The motion of no confidence in Ngodwana was applied in the absence of the Auditor-General’s report into the city’s finances, which prompted council members to accuse the Mayor and MMC for finance Nkululeko Dunga of hiding the report.
ActionSA submitted the motion in what it said was an attempt to save the metro and said that it stipulated that since Ngodwana was put in office in March last year, the city’s service delivery and its financials had crumbled.
ActionSA caucus leader, Siyanda Makhubo, said that Ngodwana and his MMCs had brought the metro to its knees.
“It is clear that Ngodwana was installed as a compromise between the ANC and the EFF and we cannot sit by and watch as he fails to govern,” Makhubo said.
ANC Gauteng secretary TK Nciza said he was disappointed with the behaviour of EFF members during the council sitting, considering that both the ANC and the EFF had agreed in terms of the lack of service delivery in townships within the metro.
Nciza criticised the speaker who left and abandoned the situation, and said his actions illustrate a lack of leadership that was desperately needed in the situation.
“We put our people first as the ANC, if the EFF is not willing to listen, it remains their choice. The arrogance that has been displayed by the EFF leaders in Ekurhuleni for a long time has really not assisted the municipality,” Nciza said.
Nciza said that the ANC was willing to sit down with any progressive party willing to put the citizens of Ekurhuleni first instead of melodramatic displays of anarchy.
The Speaker had previously said that the EFF inherited a municipality that had a surplus of only R300 million in the bank, “we only had cash in hand to take care of our obligations for a few days, but that since then, the EFF was able to increase that surplus to R800 million”.
Tshivhenga said the Red Berets equally inherited outstanding payments to service providers of R8 billion and have managed to reduce the amount to R2 billion.
Several parties have voiced their concern over the financial status of the country’s largest metro and some have seen this as storm clouds brewing on the horizon.
In addition, ActionSA has claimed that the mayor was ignoring a council resolution on insourcing as well as failing to implement the lifestyle audit and added that he has failed to implement the council resolution on hijacked buildings, which continue to pose a health and safety risk for unsuspecting residents.
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