ACDP leader reverend Kenneth Meshoe said on Wednesday his party’s councillor who allegedly voted with minority parties to oust the Johannesburg council speaker, had been found “guilty on all charges”.
That was after Meshoe confirmed to Business Day last week that two of ACDP’s three councillors in the Joburg council elected to vote with the ANC to remove DA councillor Vasco da Gama through a motion of no confidence last Thursday.
The ACDP is part of the DA-led multiparty coalition and holds three seats in council occupied by councillors Ronald Harris (MMC for community development), Ronald Dyers and Dingaan Sithole.
Meshoe said two of the three councillors were allegedly bribed to vote against Da Gama
“Only one councillor appeared before DC [disciplinary committee] as the other councillor submitted a doctor’s letter stating that he was sick,” Meshoe told Business Day on Wednesday.
“The councillor who appeared was found guilty on all charges against him. The chair of the panel has directed that parties file mitigating and aggravating factors by Friday.”
The no-confidence motion against Da Gama, which was tabled by the PAC, was carried through with 136 votes from the minority parties — including the ANC and African Independent Congress (AIC) — against 132 votes from the DA-led multiparty coalition running the city, including ActionSA, Freedom Front Plus, Patriotic Alliance, IFP, ACDP and COPE.
Of the 270 council seats in the Joburg city council, 140 are held by the multiparty coalition and the rest by minority parties. To pass the budget and vote through council items — including service delivery programmes — political parties need a majority of 136 votes.
Joburg executive mayor Mpho Phalatse has said a council speaker would be elected at the next council sitting or “as soon as it is reasonably possible”.
“It must be noted that the intention of our political opponents to table a motion of no confidence in the executive mayor at the next council sitting is but an attempt to gain access to funds meant for the delivery of services,” Phalatse said.
“It also comes as a response to the announcement by the MMC for group corporate services, Leah Knott, that lifestyle audits will be conducted on all councillors and senior managers.”
The minority parties including GOOD, UDM, Al Jama-ah, AIC and ATM, among others, want Phalatse gone as they accuse her of having colluded with Da Gama in allegedly concealing fraud and corruption reports in the metro.
“The minority opposition bloc has joined the ANC chorus by calling for a motion of no confidence in the executive mayor, and as it follows, the multiparty executive of the City of Johannesburg.
“It is clear that there is a desperate and co-ordinated attempt to grab power [in] the city, without any regard for residents and their service delivery needs.
Despite these political games being played, I can guarantee residents that we are not distracted, nor will service delivery be affected. The repair and rebuilding of Johannesburg is a serious responsibility and action, which we will not allow to be stalled by a sordid campaign to capture the city.”
Phalatse has dismissed attempts to remove her as “politics”, saying they would not succeed.
AIC councillor and a prominent figure of the minority parties in council, Margaret Arnolds, who has proposed the no confidence motion against Phalatse, said: “We have crossed our t’s and dotted our i’s, we have our ducks in a row.
“We know there are people who will vote with us in the same DA coalition. We are ready. I’m the proposer of the motion, it will be seconded by one of the members of the minority parties.”
Arnolds accused Phalatse of fraud and corruption, maladministration and for presiding over a lack of service delivery, especially in areas such as Eldorado Park.
The City of Joburg, the country's richest metro with a budget of R73.3bn for 2021/2022 and which contributes about 15.6% to SA’s GDP, fell to a DA-led coalition when the ANC support slipped below 50% during the municipal elections in 2021. The EFF voted to install DA mayors in the Gauteng metros of Joburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane.
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